A new life
by little princess
Summary: Duo lives on the street. One day he gets caught and sent to an orphanage. Can he survive there while keeping his past a secret? Will he ever make friends or is he too afraid to loose them again? AN up Complete!
1. Chapter one: Prologue

**Pay attention to everything I write before this chapter begins because I'm only going to write it once.**

Summary: Duo lives on the street. One day he gets caught and sent to an orphanage. Can he survive there while keeping his past a secret? Will he ever make friends or is he too afraid to loose them again? Follow him on his struggle to adapt to his new life.

OOC's: Duo is a bit OOC in the beginning, but the further the story goes, the more he develop into how we all know him. That's what this story is about. Trowa is a rich bastard, don't flame me for it. I really like Trowa's character, but I needed a rich bastard and he was the only one I saw fit for it. In the sequel he'll change.

Pairings: None in this story, just friendships.

Warnings: PG 13 is just to be safe. There's no lemon or anything here and there won't bee much swearing. I assume you've all heard the words 'fuck' and 'bastard' besides that there's not much swearing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing; if I did this wouldn't be a fan fiction since I'd be the owner then, not a fan.

**A new life**

Chapter one: Prologue 

_'Got it! This should be enough for now.'_

The youth put the envelope into his pocket and quickly glanced around. Everything around him was as it was when he entered this building except for the drawer that was wide open. He quickly but silently closed the drawer and held his breath as it still gave a soft thud. For a few moments he didn't move, he just listened. But everything stayed silent. That was good. 

_'And now to clear out of here.'_

The youth headed for the window he'd left open on purpose just in case he'd have to make a quick escape. He glanced at the floor just in time he was about to step on a ball. He stopped dead in his track for a moment before he positioned his foot somewhere else. 

_'Phew, that was a close one.'_

He decided he had to be more careful. He'd done this so often it was easy to think of it as a routine but he knew he couldn't afford that. One mistake could cause him to loose everything. He looked at the window once again. Just a few more steps and he'd be out of here. He took a step forward, and another, and another. But this time he reached the underground too soon. He heard how something from under his shoe moved and he saw how a toy car came out from under his foot. The little car raced forward and with a loud bang it reached the heating pipe.

_'Fuck!'_

The youth bit his lip to keep himself from swearing out loud. For the third time in less than two minutes he held his breath. But as they say 'third time's the charm'. He heard the soft cracking of a bed closely followed by a door opening. Someone had obviously woken up. What to do now? Staying here was definitely not an option. Making a run for it wasn't either, in his condition, whoever it was would spot him way before he'd reach the bushes. No, he had to hide. And fast! He glanced around to see where he could hide without being seen, but his mind wasn't cooperating very well. Then he glanced at the window 

_'Outside.'_

Within a heartbeat the boy was outside, pressing his body against the wall, trying to hide under the small windowsill. He heard footsteps and the stairs cracked, indicating that someone was coming down. Suddenly he felt something moving near his legs. He looked down to see a little rat sniffling his black pants. The boy frowned before he reached down and grabbed the rat. He placed it on the windowsill.

_'Help me out here, little one.'_

He gave the rat a little push causing it to fall down on the floor inside the house. Then he quickly sank back and hid again under the windowsill. He was right in time. A door opened and the light inside the house switched on. The footsteps paused. The youth did everything he could to keep his body from making any sounds. The footsteps sounded again, coming in his direction. But they stopped before they reached the window.

"Well, what have we got here?" A male voice whispered. "How did you get in here, little fellow?" 

A small pause followed the voice and the youth could feel his heart beating in his troth.

"Ah, I see I left the window open. Stupid thing for me to do, wasn't it?"

The footsteps came closer again but this time they didn't stop until they reached the window.

"Beautiful night, t'night, isn't it?"

The voice was now almost above him. The youth pressed his body even harder against the wall now, squeezing his eyes shut, silently wishing he'd become one with the bricks. Time passed by in slow motion and seconds seemed like hours. The youth felt the energy being drained out of him and with every heartbeat in his chest the adrenaline seemed to flow even quicker trough his body.

Finally he heard the sound of a window being closed and locked. The footsteps withdrew and the sound of cracking stairs soon faded away in the black darkness of the night.

The youth waited a little while longer until he was sure that whoever lived here had gone back to sleep again before he dared to let out a small sigh. The warm breath that had escaped his mouth quickly condensed into little white clouds, indicating the almost freezing temperature outside. The youth shivered. He was cold. He was always cold. He pulled up the collar of his thin, black jacket and prepared to leave this cursed house, promising himself he'd never return again. Not that he ever broke in the same place twice.

Never, not in the four years he'd been doing this, had the braided one ever come this close to getting caught.

,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸-( ¯|¯I3© )-,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸

Well, this was the prologue. I named it chapter one just because I that's how the counting on ff.net goes. Well, if you think this idea is interesting and you want to read more, please tell me. If I don't get enough reviews, I won't continue.

If you have any suggestions or what so ever, always feel free to tell me.

Next time: Both boys looked up as they heard loud voices and footsteps. Something was going on in the living room.

No review, no continue!


	2. Chapter two: Caught

**A new life**

Chapter two: Caught 

It was a long walk back to the hideout. The youth covered him self as much as possible. It wasn't a very cold night compared to some, but he was still cold. He always was. No matter what he tried, he never seemed able to warm his body. 

The boy buried his hands deeper in his pockets, his left hand safely securing the small envelope. He couldn't afford to loose that. If he did then all his trouble would have been for nothing. He fastened his pace. He wanted to be back before the others would be. If Solo found out he'd left he'd go crazy over it. He hadn't told him to stay home for nothing.

When he reached the old building he paused a moment. He saw some light coming from the inside. 

_'Damn. They're back already.'_

He didn't want to face them right now; he'd rather just turn around and walk away. But he knew he would have to face them eventually. This was his home, the only place he had to go. And they were his only family. Sooner or later he'd have to face them. Better make it sooner because later is always worse.

He opened the old door carefully, making sure it wouldn't fall out. The door cracked a little. He stepped inside and as he did so the smell of food reached his nose. He closed the door behind him and walked trough the small hall until he reached the next door. He opened it.

The room in front of him was small. The walls were bare white with here and there simple children's drawing pinned on it. The only furniture was an old sofa covered with some torn, red material. Crates were used as chairs and tables. In the middle of the room a little fire burned. 

Three children sat around the fire. Food was sprawled out next to them and they were all eating greedily. Two kids, a boy and a girl, sat on the sofa, warming each other with their bodies. They looked no older than eight years. When the door opened, the two kids on the sofa were the only ones who looked up. They stared at the boy who leaned against the wooden frame of the door, but neither said a word. They just stared at him as he gave a small smile back. They stared like that for a few minutes before a voice spoke up. 

"Mikal, Caria, bed time."

The one who'd said that looked at the twins on the sofa. When he saw they were staring at something he turned his head in the direction of their stares.

"Duo, how nice of you to join us." The teenager's voice sounded cold when he spoke those words and a silence followed as the other two children now all turned their heads and looked at the boy in the doorway. Duo stared back at the teenager, but didn't speak. Not even when he got up. 

"Alright, Mikal, Caria, go on." 

The twins got up and without a word they walked to a door in the back of the room and disappeared trough it. The teenager narrowed his eyes at the youth who scowled back. 

"Where have you been?" The smaller one asked suspiciously.

"Out."

"Doing what?"

The braided youth took the envelope he'd stolen out of his pocket and threw it towards the other boy. He didn't even glance at it.

"I told you to stay here, you're sick, remember?"

"I already told you I'm better."

"Perhaps, but you're still in no condition to go out like that."

Duo now pushed himself from the doorframe and walked inside, closing the door behind him. "We need the money, don't we?"

"We have food for now, we can worry about that later." The braided boy wanted to speak, but the teenager held his hand up. "Your life is more important than that. All of our lives are. What do you think would've happened if you were caught?"

"I didn't, now did I?"

"What if you were? That condition you're in is still not one you can run with for a longer distance. We can do days with the food we got. This was totally unnecessary and very dangerous."

The youth threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine, whatever you say." He started for the door in the back of the room, but he couldn't help grumbling something about his actions not being needed. The teenager just stared after him as he shut the door with a loud bang.

Duo let his body fall down on his bed, or what he considered his bed. It was a crappy old mattress he'd found somewhere on a junkyard. But it was the best he had. He was after all nothing but a street rat that had to fight for his life every time the sun rose. He had been that ever since he'd run away from the orphanage 4 years ago. 

He was lucky to be found by Solo, a boy only a year older than himself. He and his little brother had been living on the streets for  nearly two years already so they knew how to organise things to survive. They took Duo in and taught him everything they knew about life on the streets. He was very grateful for that, he was sure that without them he would never have survived for this long.

When Solo's younger brother got shot and died three months after Duo joined them, Duo was the one that stayed by Solo's side. He helped the boy to get over the loss and he encouraged him to get on with his life. They'd been best friends ever since and there seemed to be nothing that could part them now. 

Together they'd found some other orphans and runaways and now they were the leaders of a group of seven street children. The system was simple; the elder kids, Mainly duo and Solo, looked after the younger kids and the little ones kept the big ones off the drugs and alcohol. Solo and Duo knew they had the responsibility to look after the others. They couldn't afford to become alcoholics or drug addicts. 

Duo buried his head in the pack of clothes he used as a pillow. Only now he realized how exhausted he really was. Solo had been right, he wasn't completely fit yet. And he sure as hell was lucky to have gotten out of there without being seen.

He groaned. It was only a matter of time now before Solo would come in to talk things out. He always solved his differences as soon as possible. 'Just in case tomorrow never comes' he'd say. The other children didn't know that Solo used to have a little brother, he never talked about it. But Duo did and he also knew that Solo held regrets of the hard time he'd given the young boy sometimes. And now it was too late to tell him that. Solo just wanted to make sure he'd never make that same mistake again.

Duo was right. Only a few minutes later the door to Solo and Duo's room opened. Duo didn't look up. He already knew who was there.

"Duo, I want to talk to you." Duo kept still, not wanting to have this conversation right now.

"Fine, then don't talk. I know you're awake and you were expecting me so I'll just say what I want to say." He sat down on his own mattress. "You shouldn't have gone out of here, not in that condition. You're my best friend and this group needs you."

Duo looked up from his pillow. "The group needs food. What if your mission had been a complete disaster? I wanted to get some money just in case. I'm perfectly capable of deciding what I can do in my condition."

Solo sighed. "I know you can take care of yourself, but Duo, the others look up to you. If you give them an example like this they'll just do the same next time. It will get them into trouble for sure."

Duo looked down. He knew his friend was right about the others looking up to them. Solo was the real leader, but whenever he wasn't around it was Duo who took care of the others. He really didn't mean to endanger the group.

"They need you, Duo. Life's dangerous out there and I alone am not enough. Besides, if something happens to me you're the one who has to take my place. I don't want anything to happen to them or to you. And. . ." he paused a moment before he continued silently. "I'm sorry I got angry with you."

Duo looked up. "No, I'm the one who should say sorry. I'm really sorry I endangered the group, Solo. I. . . " But his sentence got interrupted by a loud bang. 

Both boys looked up as they heard loud voices and footsteps. Something was going on in the living room. They got up as fast as they could. 

"You get the little ones out, I'll check the living room!" Duo yelled. They ran out of the door and while Solo hurried to the room where the other children slept, Duo went to the living room. When he had almost reached the door, it flung open and a man in a blue uniform was revealed. Duo recognised it immediately as a cop.

'Shit! They found us!' 

He kicked his way passed the cop who tried to obstruct his way to the door. He ran into the living room, only to see that there were more cops. The front door was broken and the food was scattered all over the place, but Duo didn't care. At least all the kids were gone. 

He paused a moment to think of something but soon realized that had been a mistake. Two men grabbed his arms and roughly pulled him back. He tried desperately to break free, but the grip was just too tight. 

"Let go of me, you bastards!" At that remark they roughly kicked him in the back of his legs, forcing him onto his knees. They pinned his hands behind his back and pressed some weight on his shoulders so he would have to stay down.

"Shit!" He tried to move, but the grip was too tight. At that moment the door to the living room flew open and Solo dashed in. He quickly spotted the other boy.

"Duo!" He tried to move forward to his struggling friend, but another cop grabbed him too. He started pulling his way out and eventually his elbow connected with the man's stomach, causing him to double over. Solo looked at Duo who was yelling at him now, still struggling against the tight hold.

"Solo, get out of here! Get the children out!"

Solo jumped out of another man's way. He cast one more glance in Duo's direction, his eyes showing that he understood, before he made his way out, chased by two other men. Once he was out of sight, Duo finally stopped struggling against the tight hold. He couldn't break free, he was in for it big time. Exhausted, he let his head fall down in defeat as he panted for breath.

The two officers holding him down handcuffed him now. He simply let them, knowing it was over. They pulled him to his feet and one of them started reading him his rights. But he didn't really pay attention to it as the door flung open again and the two cops who had followed Solo returned empty handed. One held his arm in a tight grip as he tried to suppress every sign of pain on his face.

A man, wearing a mask that covered his eyes and above that, walked towards the two, demanding an explanation.  

"We're extremely sorry, sir. They got away." One apologized.

"All of them?"

"Yes sir."

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, Sanders, but you let mere children get the better of you?"

The two men looked ashamed, but silently replied a 'yes sir'. The masked man sent the two away. Then he walked over to Duo, who was mentally grinning, though his face didn't show a sign of it. That was Solo, all right. If anyone could escape those men, it would be him. They'd done it so many times before. Despite the fact that he was caught now, he was relieved the others got away safely. He just hoped they'd be okay.

"Looks like your friends got away this time. But you're in a whole lot of trouble boy." He glanced at the officer holding him. "Take him away."

,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸-( ¯|¯I3© )-,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸

All those who have already reviewed, thanks, do it again if you like, I'd appreciate it! And to those who haven't please do. It really helps my ego -

Next time: "What if I grab his gun, shoot you both and get out of here?"

  
  
"Then you'd go to jail for the rest of your life and you wouldn't get the opportunity to hear the offer I have for you." 

No review, no continue


	3. Chapter three: The orphanage

A/N: okay, first of all, this chapter should have been up a week ago but I'd like to update on ff.net and mm.org at the same time and since ff.net was having some troubles two weeks ago I ended up deleting chap 2 there so I had to update it a week later (what can I say, I'm addicted to reviews). Anyway, my computer tells me that sentence is too long but I'm sure you can all read it () so I'll leave it that way. 

About the story: I have this story finished already so I can update every week. And I promise I will as long as Internet or ff.net or mm.org doesn't flip. That's all, here are the comments:

Shinchansgirl: ??? What do you mean the 'I'M NOT FINISHED YET' area?

PATTY40: Don't worry, the story has 10 chapters and since it's already done I will update every week. Think that's fast enough? Thanks for you review, glad you like it.

Schachzug: The threaten is just so I won't be wasting time on something no-one reads anyway. Here's the new update, hope you like it. Thanks for reviewing.

Battousai: Just read on, in this chapter he's going to meet Wufei, the rest will soon follow. Let me know what you think of the first meeting kay? Thanks for the review.

Cryearthstearsfalltou: Yeah, he is. But don't worry, he's lucky today! He'll live. . . for now Thanks for your review.

Juunanagou-lover: Ik kom ook uit Nederland dus ik zeg dit ook maar ff in het Nederlands :D Ik weet zeker dat ik ook veel fouten maak dus dat maakt niet uit. Ik ben blij dat ik ook fans van wat dichterbij heb Bedankt voor je review!

Galyn: Yup, that's how it works. I'm sorry but the chapters wont get much longer. Only the last chapter is long. And the thank you, well, without you reviewers my life would be sooo empty I'm just glad to know other people like my story too. So thanks for your review and here's the next chapter.

Sarahdbz: Don't worry about the short review, any review is okay. I hope you like your new home. Thanks for reading it!

**A new life**

Chapter three: The orphanage

Duo sat in a little room, facing a woman he didn't know. He'd been in jail for two nights now and he had still no idea of what was going to happen to him. They'd tried to get some information out of him, but he wouldn't betray his friends. Besides that, he really didn't know where they'd moved. Solo was smart enough to find a place Duo didn't know about so at least the others would be safe. The less Duo knew, the less he could tell the cops.

This woman he was facing now he'd never seen before. Her hair was platinum black, though the lights made it look almost like purple. It covered one eye most of the time. She had said she was there when they'd arrested him, but he hadn't seen her. She didn't look like a cop to him at all. What did she say her name was again? Noin. 

She said something about social services and then she started asking him questions about his friends saying that they would betray him too if they'd get better from it. There was nothing he could do but help the social services find them so that they could get a new home. She even promised she'd do everything within her power to keep them from being harmed. But Duo didn't buy it. He'd been in one of those 'homes' before and he didn't run away for no reason at all. 

"You mentioned a name back there. Solo, right?"

Duo scowled at her. He placed his cuffed hands on the table. "Look, lady. I've said this a hundred times already. I. Don't. Know. Where. They. Are."

She kept her eyes at his. "But if you knew you wouldn't tell us, right?"

Duo let out a frustrated sigh as he turned his head away. Why wouldn't they just leave him alone?

The woman spoke again, only now to the young cop in the room. "Can't you just get his handcuffs off?"

The man blinked. "I-I don't know, I. . ."

"It's okay, he won't try anything. I take full responsibility."

The man nodded and walked up to Duo, who was now looking at the woman again. He couldn't help but smile a little in a false way.

"What if I grab his gun, shoot you both and get out of here?" The cop stopped removing the handcuffs immediately as Duo said this. Not that he would actually do that, killing someone wasn't worth anything. Not the grief, hatred or the punishment. He might be a street rat, a burglar, a thieve and so many other things, but a murderer sure as hell wasn't going to be one of them.

The woman replied immediately. "That would be a very stupid thing to do because then you'd go to jail for the rest of your life and you wouldn't get the opportunity to hear the offer I have for you." Offer? Duo looked at the woman. She'd never mentioned any offers. When he said nothing the woman nodded once and the cop continued removing the handcuffs.

Noin concentrated on the boy again. She spoke with a calm tone. "I've spoken to your judge and he has agreed to place you in an orphanage under my supervision. You will be going to school so you can get an education and you and I will meet one hour a week."

Duo narrowed his eyes. "I have nothing to say to you."

"You have to agree to all terms if you want this. Think about it. If you refuse you might spend the next years in jail. So, what do you say?"

Duo remained silent. He didn't feel much for having to talk to her like he was mad or something and he didn't want to go to another orphanage, but going to jail wasn't a very hopeful future either.

Suddenly he remembered something, a painting that hung in their 'home'. One of the members of their group, Saria, had made it. It was a green mountain with a blue sky and birds flying around, free. She'd called the painting 'hope' because she needed that to survive every day. 

Duo couldn't help but wondering how the others were doing now. Were they safe? Would Solo be able to take care of them all by himself? He had always relied on Duo pretty much so now that he was stuck here, he just hoped they'd be safe and have something to eat. 

If they hadn't, Duo knew it would all be his fault

He was probably the one who'd led the cops to their hideout. They must've followed him when he got back there after breaking in to get some money two nights ago. How else could they've known? The group had always been careful enough.

The woman from social services shoved her chair back and got up. "Think about it. I'll be back in a few days to hear your answer."

Three days later Duo sat in the same room, facing the same woman who'd 'visited' him three days ago. 

"So, have you thought of it?" she asked, getting straight to the point.

Like he had anything better to do anyway. He wasn't completely sure yet, though. Why had they made him this offer? Sending him to jail would be a lot easier for all of them. That's how they worked, right? Catching criminals and then taking the easy way out. It's not like they deserved any better.

 So he asked the one question that has been burning ever since she'd made the offer.

"Why me?"

"Well," Noin started, "we've done some blood tests on you and we've found no traces of drugs or alcohol in your blood. Besides that, the food that was in your 'house' was stolen from the Tween family. We've looked at the security tapes, but you weren't on it. So we have no evidence you were involved with that one." 

Her expression suddenly got more serious as she continued in a calm but very clear tone. "Let me be honest with you. We do have other charges against you, offending an officer in uniform, resisting against your arrest, using violence and some other minor crimes, but I've spoken to some people who are involved with your case and they agreed to drop those charges if you decide to take my offer."

"What makes you so sure I won't run away again like I did last time?"

"Your actions apparently set an example." The woman leaned back again. "After you ran away, there were five more attempts, three succeeded. We've checked the other two kids and they showed signs of serious abuse. The orphanage was closed down a year after you left and the children are placed in a new home now, including the three who left after you."

"How can you be so sure I am that one?"

Noin smiled at him. "I've been looking for you back then. We were hoping you'd help us by testifying against the home so we could close it down. In you I can clearly see the young boy I saw on those pictures. I'm sure I have the right one. The one with no name?"

She was right, he was the kid with no name. He'd never known his parents and he'd been in an orphanage for as long as he could remember. In the first one they'd all called 'brat' or 'boy' and after that no-one had ever bothered giving him a name. 

The name 'Duo' came from the streets. He had taken that name some weeks after Solo's little brother died. He'd promised him they'd stay together forever so he decided to call himself 'Duo'. And now he'd broken that promise. 

_'Only weaklings break their promises.'_

"So, will you do it or not." Duo looked at the lady, but didn't speak. He wasn't sure what to think. He always thought it was normal to be treated the way they did at the orphanage, didn't all orphanages do the same? But now it turned out that they didn't. He had no idea what he would be facing now. Did he want to take that chance?

The woman nodded and got up. Apparently she must've thought his silence meant 'no' because she got ready to leave. But Duo spoke before she was gone.

"Is talking to you the only obligation?"

She turned around. "If you decide to stay and follow their rules, yes."

"And if I decide to leave?"

"Then you'll be in a whole lot of trouble." 

She walked up to the boy and bend down to his eyelevel. "I have to hear your answer, Duo. Yes, or no."

Duo and Miss Noin sat in a small office in the orphanage, waiting for the headmaster of this home to arrive. Duo looked around. The office looked like what he remembered from the principle office on the school he went to 5 years ago. It had a wooden desk with a computer, some photos and some stuff to write. The room had some chairs and posters hung on the wall along with some more photos. A room like this often had a lot of things to steal.

This place was an orphanage for children between twelve and eighteen. It was a normal mixed orphanage and the school was inside the building. Miss Noin had told that it had fifty-three children, Duo included. More than half were boys.

The children in the orphanage weren't the only ones that attended school there. Children from outside came here too and since the school had a good name most classes were pretty full. The money they didn't need for the school went to the orphanage and that was the reason the building was in such a good shape. 

Without the orphanage the school would probably be closed down and that was not what the parents wanted. The school was to good for that so they laid in  some extra money to keep it open.

The door opened and a woman in green clothes stepped inside. Her brown hair was tied in two tails that hung over her shoulder. "Sorry I'm late." She quickly apologized as she hurried to sit behind the desk. She glanced at Miss Noin. "Ah, Noin, it's you. So I guess this the new child?" 

Miss Noin nodded. "This is Duo." 

Duo's face remained blank as the woman got up and offered him her hand. "I'm Sally Po and I'm the headmaster of the Maxwell Orphanage." Duo took her hand. "You can call me Sally, everybody does." 

Miss Noin and Sally talked a while as Sally looked trough a file on her desk. Then she began explaining the rules to Duo. He would be treated just like all the others, despite his background. He was allowed to go out once a week if he let one the leaders know where he'd be going. What time he had to be back depended on the age of the child. The rest of the rules were normal, be nice, no fighting, no skipping classes, blah blah blah. 

At the end of the speech Sally asked if he had any questions. 

"Do I get my own room?"

"Oh right, I completely forgot! How stupid of me." Sally said. "I'm sorry, but we don't have enough rooms for that. Speaking of rooms, your roommate will arrive soon to show you around. If you have any questions you can just ask him. His name is Wufei and like you he is fifteen." 

At that moment there was a knock on the door. 

"Come in."

The door opened and a Chinese boy walked in. He wore white pants and a dark blue, almost black top with a blood red dragon on it. His black hair was tied back into a little ponytail.

"Ah, Wufei, you're here. This is Duo." Sally moved her hand towards Duo. "Duo, Wufei. You'll be roommates from now on." She dropped her hand and moved from behind her desk.

Duo looked at Wufei who was eyeing him from head to toe as if he were an animal in the zoo. Duo scowled. He didn't like being looked at like that.

"Wufei, will you show Duo around? I've told him that if he needs anything he could ask you, alright?"

"Sure." The Chinese boy answered bored as he turned around. "This way." And he walked out of the office, not really bothering to check if the braided boy would follow.

Duo followed the Chinese boy, wondering if he'd made the right choice. He already disliked being here. How was he ever supposed to live here for three years? Maybe going to jail wasn't such a bad idea after all. But it was too late now, there was no way back.

This kid, Wufei, explained where which facilities were, but as he did so he made clear by his voice that he'd rather be left alone right now. 

_'That's exactly how I feel.'_

When they passed a group of boys their age. One of them called for Wufei. 

"Hey, who's that behind you?"

"He's the new kid. I swear that woman does everything she can to annoy me."

The boys snickered. "Yeah, we know that Wufei. All women in the world have joined forces to do their best and annoy the hell out of you."

"Hey, it's true! This isn't justice! I never asked for him." The Chinese boy defended himself, not even trying to hide the disgust at his last word.

"Whatever, Wufei." 

Wufei glared at the group, but didn't reply. He just walked on muttering something about damned kids and unjustified women. Finally he stopped at a door and opened it. The room wasn't very big and it had two beds in it. One side of the room had some personal stuff in it, the other side just empty furniture. 

"This is our room and that's your side." Wufei pointed to the empty furniture. "Keep it clean."

,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸-( ¯|¯I3© )-,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸

Next time: "Duo? Gah!" Strange. That voice. It sounded familiar. Duo looked at the figure on the ground to see him staring back at him. As did Heero.

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	4. Chapter four: Troubles and a visitor

Lethanon: If you like Duo and Wufei paired up I hope you like the beginning of this chapter. Thank you for your review!

Battousai: Hehehe, yeah they'll fight, don't worry. Read on and see what happens. Hope you like it, thanks for your review.

Juunanagoulover: Yes, I can continue now, hope you like this chapter. Thank you for your review!

Morganeth Taren'drel: What an unusual name, where did it come from. Anyway, here's more as you asked. Thank you for your review.

SwomeSwan: I hope this is fast enough? Thank you for liking this and for your review!

Jen Tai Yaung: Duo and Wufei are both teenagers. But in this story there will be no pairings, perhaps in the sequel, tell me which pairing you want to see, yaoi or no.

Cryeartstearsfalltou: Do you have any idea how irritating it is to write your name every time?! Sorry, but I'm just too lazy to scroll back and copy it. But please don't stop reviewing, I love reviews! I too hate ff.net for 'giving me shit'. You readers are the ones who suffer from it and I don't like my readers suffering. Thanks for your support.

Silver Angel: Yes, they will all meet in time. I hope you like this chapter too, thanks for your review.

**A new life**

Chapter four: Troubles and a visitor

Duo stared at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. He shivered. He was cold. He was always cold. The stereo in his room was playing loud music. When he came here Duo had gotten some money to start with. After that he received a bit of pocket money every week, as did the others in the orphanage. As soon as he could he'd bought this CD with dance music. 

He often wandered trough the mall when he still lived on the streets. There was this one music shop that always played this CD round noon. For some reason Duo always got attracted by it. He used to wander into the place to have a good look at what they were selling. At least that was what the other customers must've thought. The real reason he kept coming back everyday round the same time was to hear the CD play. How he loved that music. And he swore that one day he'd buy that CD. 

And now he finally had it.

And he loved it.

 His thoughts drifted off to the others again. He recalled the thirteen-year-old girl who loved painting.

'Hope', that's what I'll call it.' Saria said as she looked at her painting. 'The birds are so happy, free to soar trough the sky, no worries at all.' Then her face would sadden. 'I wish I could fly.'

Whenever Duo walked passed that painting, he'd slow his pace and look at it, wishing that one-day, Saria would find the mountain where she'd be free. After everything the girl had been trough, she truly deserved it.

Three weeks had gone by and Duo still didn't like it in the orphanage. He had made no friends yet but he didn't care. Miss Noin told him that he was pushing people away because he was afraid to loose them again or they'd hurt him or something. When she told him to open up more because he was pushing everybody away he'd simply shrugged. No one was to be trusted, he'd learned that the hard way. 

If Noin knew what was walking around out there she wouldn't take this all to be so easy. 

Wufei wasn't much good either. He had made it clear from the very first day that he wanted as little to do with the new kid as possible and so they ended up ignoring each other as much as possible.

Duo spent most of his free time in his room. This all to the great annoyance of Wufei who claimed never being able to get some privacy with him around. Duo simply ignored his ranting. He'd just lay on his bed, listening to some music, thinking about all sorts of things. 

He wondered if Solo and the others were alright. He almost felt guilty about being here. He had a roof over his head, a nice warm bath, all the food he needed while his friends sat out there somewhere in the cold, probably wondering how they'd survive another day.

School was boring too. The teachers figured he'd be way behind, but Duo had stolen money to buy books so that he could at least get some kind of education. Even when he was old enough to work, he'd probably never get anywhere if he had the brains of a ten-year-old. Solo thought about it the same way so together they'd studied books and they taught the little ones how to read and write. 

He had been a little behind in class, but he'd almost fully caught up now. His classes were boring, English, history, math, science, gym. Only with history he was still way behind, but that was because he'd found it too boring to take the time to study it back then. Like he really needed to know which Louis did what in France or when Columbus discovered America. It all happened such a long time ago.

And then there was Miss Noin. He had to admit it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He could speak to her about whatever he wanted, even if it wasn't important and if he didn't want to speak, which was most of the time, he could just listen to whatever she would tell him.

The music had stopped playing. Duo looked up to see that Wufei had entered the room and was now meditating. He hadn't even noticed him coming in and he wondered if he had turned off the music or if the CD was just done. He glanced at his clock. Nope, the CD shouldn't have been done yet. Wufei did it. Duo got up and walked over to the stereo to press the play button. Immediately the room, and probably the whole orphanage, was filled with the loud dance music again.

Wufei's eyes snapped open as his concentration was broken by the music. He glared at the braided youth while he got off his bed to turn off the music.

"Hey! I was listening to that!" Duo complained as he pushed the play button again. 

This time Wufei opened the stereo and took out the CD, breaking it in two pieces before he threw it in the trashcan. 

"Not anymore." 

Duo growled at the Chinese boy. "You'll pay for that!" He lunged himself at the smaller teenager and threw him to the ground. Wufei looked startled at first. He hadn't expected him to react like that. Duo had threatened him before, but he'd never actually attacked him like this. 

Wufei couldn't know it, but this time was different to Duo. This time the youth had touched something that was Duo's and Duo's alone. He hadn't had that in years so now he swore he would make the boy pay for taking it from him.

He punched the Chinese boy in his face, taking advantage of his startled position. But the other teenager recovered quickly from his state and he managed to push the boy off of him. He got in a fighting stance as he wiped some blood away with his sleeve. 

Duo attacked the other boy, aiming for his stomach, but the Chinese youth dodged it easily, bringing his hand down on his opponent's back. He brought his knee up, causing Duo to double over and fall to his knees. Wufei got ready to attack again. Duo rolled away and got to his feet, ready to continue. Now it was Wufei who threw himself at the other boy. Fists flew around but suddenly the door slammed open and another boy came in, followed by Sally. The boy, Duo recognised him as the silent one they called Heero, broke the two fighting boys off and stood between them.

"Leave him, Wufei." Heero warned the Chinese boy. "He's not worth it."

Sally looked at the two boys and sighed. "Follow me."

It was night now. Duo glanced at his clock. 23.00. Time to go to sleep. He had a normal school day again tomorrow. Duo glanced at the bed on the other side of the room to see that Heero had put out his light too.

Duo had been transferred to another room. Wufei had insisted on that. He couldn't possibly live with that boy any longer. And since he had been there longer than the taller boy it was only justified that Duo would be the one to move. The braided boy didn't really care. He was glad he could finally get away from Wufei and his ranting.

They'd both got detention and they weren't allowed to go out for a couple of weeks. Not that Duo cared, he never went out anyway. He now shared a room with the ever-scowling Heero. Unlike Wufei this boy hardly spoke and he couldn't be bothered by Duo's presence. If Duo asked anything he would answer and he never spoke a bad word about him. But then again, he hardly spoke at all.

Duo was convinced this boy hated him too, though. He DID tell Wufei he wasn't worth the fight.

Duo sighed and closed his eyes. He was really tired and he hoped that for once he could get to sleep early. He had been having trouble sleeping lately, he laid awake for hours thinking of what to do. He felt like he had left his friends, but yet he didn't. He had been given the chance to clear his name and to get an education, a future. He knew Solo would want him to take this chance, he was sure of it. Then why did he feel he had to convince himself of this, and fast?

For once Duo's wish had come true. He didn't lay awake for hours this night, instead he fell asleep right away. He was exhausted.

Duo woke up as he heard a loud bang close by. His instincts told him to quickly scan the room to see what was going on. Heero was on the floor on top of something or. . . Someone? He narrowed his eyes to let them adjust to the darkness. Heero was trying to hold down someone.

"W-what's going on, Heero?" was all Duo could say.

"Duo? Gah!" Strange. That voice. It sounded familiar. Duo looked at the figure on the ground to see him staring back at him. As did Heero.

"Duo, would you mind telling your body guard to get off me?"

Duo blinked. "Solo?" He had to be dreaming! Solo couldn't be here. No way.

But the voice proved him wrong. 

"No, the Easter bunny. Of course it's me, you idiot!"

Duo blinked again before he turned to Heero. 

"It's alright, Heero, let go of him."

Heero paused a moment, glancing from one boy to the other before he got off the figure. But his eyes never left the intruder. Solo got up, rubbing his wrists to ease the pain.

"Damn, he's strong."

"Solo?" Duo hissed. "How did you find me here?"

"I just asked that nice guy from the other day if he knew where I could find a braided idiot who couldn't get his mouth shut."

"Shit, you idiot, you hacked into the polices computer, didn't you? You have any idea how well those are secured?"

"Yeah, I kinda found out. . . But don't worry, I used a computer in the library to. . ." But before Solo could finish his sentence a hand covered his mouth as they heard footsteps coming their way.

"Hide!" 

Solo ran for the window and climbed out just in time. The door opened right after he was out of sight and Mister Tsuborav, the history teacher walked in.

"I thought I heard voices here." He grumbled. 

"Yeah, sorry, that was me." Duo tried to think of something good, but nothing came up. He had to react fast enough, though, or Tsuborav would get suspicious. And he was not one you wanted to be on the wrong side of. "I hurt my toe on the way to the bathroom."

Tsuborav glanced at Heero, who was now glaring at Duo but he stayed silent. 

"I accidentally woke him up too." Duo looked down, afraid that if he didn't his face would somehow betray him. Why? He used to be able to lie into anybodies face, he used to be so fearless. What was this place doing to him? Was it good? Could he really have changed that much in only six weeks?

Tsuborav glanced at him. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go to the bathroom then."

"I-Eh. . ." Damn, now how was he going to save his ass? He did the only thing he knew that might work. Laughing dumbly. "Actually, it's strange. I don't have to go anymore." 

Tsuborav looked from one boy to another, wearing a suspicious scowl. But finally he shrugged and closed the door again.

Duo glanced at Heero, but he only rolled his eyes and sat down on his bed. Then he glanced at the window. 

'Shit! The window!' 

They were on the fourth floor! He got over to the window and glanced out. Solo stood on a small ledge below the window. Duo offered him his hand and Solo climbed back in.

"I hurt my toe?" The elder boy snickered. "You're loosing it, boy."

Duo scowled at him. "It worked, didn't it?" Solo just gave his friend a weird look. "Solo, what are you doing here?"

"Isn't that obvious?" He said matter-of-factly. "I came to get you out of this dump."

"Solo, this isn't that." Duo explained, knowing Solo would understand. "This is a normal orphanage."

"It is?" He glanced around the room as if to see if it was normal. Then he turned back to the younger boy. "Well, even so, are you coming or what?"

He turned around to leave by the window again, expecting Duo to follow him.

Duo looked at the floor. He had to decide now. He had to make the right choice now or he'd never get the opportunity again. "No."

It was barely a whisper but the older boy had heard it anyway. He turned back and blinked at his braided friend. "What do you mean?" He asked, not understanding the answer.

"Don't you see? I get an education here, I can have a future again. It's what we've been dreaming about ever since we met, remember?" 

"No, it's not." Solo's eyes almost saddened for a moment before they turned into the harsh mask Duo had gotten used to. Only this time it hurt to see his friend like that. "We've been dreaming of staying together forever, having a future together."

"I'm sorry, Solo. But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Call me selfish all you want but I can't afford to let it slip." He saw in his friend's face that he didn't understand. Speaking the next words was the hardest thing he ever had to do, no breaking in or running away could compare to it. "I think you'd better go."

Solo looked at Duo. He probably couldn't believe his ears. But he must've seen that Duo was serious, for he turned around to leave.

"Fine." He said angry, but Duo knew better. He'd hurt the only true friend he'd ever had and ever would have and now he had to watch him leave. Was this really the right decision? Shouldn't he be better off out there with Solo than he was in here with all those strange people? But it was too late now.

Duo watched as Solo disappeared trough the window once again, this time to never return. When he was gone he let himself fall on his bed, facing the empty white ceiling. He shivered. He was cold. He was always cold.

The silence was broken by Heero's quiet voice. "You never were transferred from another orphanage, were you?"

"Is that what they told you?" Duo glanced at his roommate. "I got transferred here from the streets."

"Solo. . ." Heero said it as if he was trying to taste the word. "Is that why you call yourself Duo?"

"Yes." Suddenly the braided boy narrowed his eyes and growled softly. "And if you ever say one word about this to anyone, I swear I'll make you regret you ever laid eyes on him in the first place!"

Heero turned around in his bed as if to ignore the threat. But Duo knew he'd heard it. He'd better have.

,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸-( ¯|¯I3© )-,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸

Next time: "Oh how stupid of us, we haven't even introduced ourselves!" The girl offered him her hand and smiled sweetly. Duo took it. "Hilde" she said. "What's yours?" 

**To all MEDIAMINER readers! **I only got 2 reviews from you the last chapter. I will not continue posting it there if I do not get more reviews****

If you want to be on my mailing list my e-mail address is in my profile

No review, no continue

Little Princess


	5. Chapter five: Hilde and more trouble

A/N: first off, I'd like to warn all Trowa Lovers because I made Trowa an ass in this part. Sorry, but I needed someone for that part (you'll find out later in the story what I mean). So don't flame me for it, okay? I actually like Trowa a lot but I like all the g-boys. And introducing a character of my own wouldn't have the effect I need. So please trust me on this and don't flame me for how I gave him his part in this story.

Also: Quatre gets introduced. For all the Quatre lovers here I'd like to warn you but I made him kinda like a wimp. Again, don't flame me, this is how my story goes and if you don't agree write your own story. 

I can tell you that in the sequel (if I ever finish that) the boys will grow more and more into the personalities they have in the show but for this story, I need them to be like this. (Constructive) criticism is welcome, flames are not.

Thank you.

Little princess

Now on with the review replies!

SwomeSwan: I hope you review again, I like reviews (who doesn't?) Well, here's the next chapter, just 1 week until chappy 6. Think you can wait that long after reading this one? Thank you!

Vampire Queen: Of course I'll continue. Here's chapter 6. Thanks for your review and enjoy!

Cryeartstearsfalltou: Dear annoying fan (your words, not mine!), If you change your name, please let me know so I know who my real readers are. If I'm right you have been here from chapter 1 and you've reviewed every chapter so far. I guess I can tell you now that I plan to reward the one(s) who reviewed every chapter with the whole sequel as soon as it is finished. If you want that, of course. So if you're changing your name, please let me know.

Mimi: When Duo got caught they told him they knew he hadn't got anything to do with the break in, remember? Duo got of VERY easily, but he fears that the others wouldn't have the same luck. Besides that, this orphanage is for kids between 12 and 18 so the group would split up. So coming to live there has its consequences and they'd have to consider them all. Duo knew them and he knew Solo wouldn't agree to giving himself up. That's the explanation. As for mediaminer, yes I know. But still, 2 reviews per chapter is not much, even there. But I will keep posting here!

Lethanon: I don't like threatening either, but I need to know someone is reading my story. I'm so glad that you do. Don't worry, I am not going to give up on mm just yet. Thanks for letting me know you want to keep reading this.

Battousai: You'll find out in time what happens. Also, I'd like to tell you something since I informed the other one(s) in the race too. At the end of the story I plan to reward the one(s) who reviewed every chapter with the whole sequel as soon as it is finished. If you want to get that, keep on reviewing these next 6 chapters. Thank you!

MeiAkutenshi: High expectations from mm. . . I see your point In my opinion Duo was right by choosing for himself this time. You can't always please others while you only get yourself into trouble. But he IS going to get into more trouble by further bad actions, read on and review please!  

Silver Angel: Wufei wasn't very nice indeed. But yet Duo turned out as the black sheep. Thanks for your review and here's your next chapter

Sapphire angel: I'm getting better as I go further and it helps that I left this story done for a few weeks before I read it over and corrected it. But if you just keep practising in writing you'll get better. And I'm not that good, some authors here are so good it just makes you feel like you totally suck. Thanks for your review and the compliment.

miyu-chan_:_ Don't worry, it's secure for now. Just keep reviewing and I'll keep updating. Thanks for the review.

**A new life**

Chapter five: Hilde and more trouble 

It was Friday today and Duo had a whole afternoon off. The teacher of his last class was sick, so he got the period off. And the one before it told them they could do their homework outside class. So, now he had a whole afternoon off to do. . . What would he do? He still hadn't made any friends, only enemies. Wufei, of course, wouldn't even spare him a glance and then there was this rich boy, Trowa. His parents had died in a car accident and since he was an only child they'd left him all their fortune. His parents, however, were paranoid enough to think half the earth was after their money and they hadn't trusted anyone. They had no friends or family at all so the state placed the boy here.

Trowa was one arrogant pain in the ass. He thought that because of his money he owned this place and he could do whatever he wanted. Of course, Duo couldn't stand that so eventually the two boys crashed and he got into a fight, again. They both got into trouble and Trowa blamed him for that. And since he was every teacher's pet he got the braided boy into a lot of trouble all the time. And hell if he didn't enjoy every moment of it.

Duo hated Trowa and Wufei, two boys who were pretty popular. Trowa had the twin Jeice and Darryl, who were only friends with him because he bought their friendship. Besides that the tall boy just had a loud mouth and since Duo wasn't very loved they'd all choose the other boy's side eventually.

Wufei was an important member of what they called the 'white dragon clan'. They too were a pretty big group and thanks to Wufei they'd hated Duo since the day he'd arrived at the orphanage. The only funny thing was that Wufei's clan and Trowa's group didn't like each other all that much either.

Heero was okay for now, at least he didn't give him any trouble or made him feel like shit as Wufei did whenever he had invited friends in their room. And he hadn't told anyone about Solo for as far as Duo noticed. He'd been watching the boy closely to make sure he wouldn't.

Heero hardly ever brought any friends at all. He didn't have many of them but he didn't seem to need them either. He spent most of his spare time behind a computer or behind his desk doing homework or whatever that boy would do. Wufei came into their room now and then, him and Heero seemed vague friends, but he had always left as soon as possible when Duo was there, continuously glaring at the boy until he finally made his exit.

Of course, Duo's defensive attitude didn't really help him. He hated everybody and everybody hated him. He started wondering if he'd made the right decision about Solo. It was almost a week ago now, but he started doubting his decision to stay more and more. 

Anyway, that was not the issue now. He had a whole afternoon off and he decided to leave the building for once. He could still do that as long as he was back in time for dinner at six.

Duo decided to go to the mall. He hadn't used much of his pocket money so far, just that one CD Wufei broke, so with the money he still had he might be able to try some fun things. It felt odd, walking trough the mall, entering all those stores, knowing that he didn't have to steal anything this time.

Or hopefully ever again. 

He remembered how the seven of them used to check out the different stores to see how they could best get in and out without getting caught. Daytime or night time, it didn't matter to them. Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat, that was the story. And minor shoplifting was easier with a throng of people right outside the stores where you could hide yourself.

Not this time though, he wouldn't have to 'hunt' for food this time. He could buy something fun to do, maybe a computer game or something. Yeah, that was a good idea. He'd buy one of those little computer games so he had something to do when he was bored again as usual. There wasn't much to do in the orphanage. Not without any friends. It was too cold to be enjoying a walk on the playground without being busy moving around, it was fall. They had a play room with a pool table, a big TV and several other things to do but when over half the orphanage was against you, there wasn't much for you to do.

Duo wanted to make sure he wouldn't waste his money on anything but the best he could afford. He walked around for a few hours until he was sure what he wanted to buy. A little game that had 9 games in one. Five of them were different forms of Tetris. The game wasn't expensive at all but Duo knew it would keep him busy for at least a few weeks. And if he bought this game he would still have some money left to buy something else.

He bought the game and some extra batteries and decided he'd buy something to eat with the money he had left. He went to the nearest place where he could find food, anything was okay with him now that he was hungry. It was a self-service restaurant. He walked inside and was immediately impressed by all the delicious smells. He counted his money and grabbed a plate. He took a soda and looked for something to eat. Then he saw a tray with donuts on it. Or actually, only one donut was left. He hurried forward to make it his, but at the moment he grabbed it, somebody else grabbed it as well.

"Hey, I saw it first!" Duo looked at the other person. A girl? She was about his age, but he'd never seen her before. 

"Not you didn't." He said, not willing to give up this delicious looking donut. "I got hold of it first."

The girl glared at him. Then suddenly her face changed into a slight smirk "Alright, then we'll have to share it."

"What?"

"Share it," the girl repeated, "you know, each of us pays half and each of us gets half."

But Duo didn't trust her like that. He had the feeling that the moment he let go of it, she would have it. "No way!"

The girl smirked. "Why not? Don't tell me you're afraid to sit on the same table with a strange girl?"

Duo glared at her. She was challenging him! Damn her! He knew his pride wouldn't let him do anything else than prove her wrong. "Okay, fine. We'll share it." He said, letting go of the donut. Strangely enough, the girl didn't walk away at all. "Is there anything else you need cause I'm ready now."

Five minutes later the two sat together on a table in silence, eating their half of the donut.

"So, are you from around here?" The girl broke the silence. "I've never seen you before."

"I don't go out often." Duo replied.

"Well, what school do you go to?"

"Just. . . somewhere around." Duo replied. Then he decided to change the subject to her. "How old are you?"

"I'm fifteen, you?"

"Fifteen." Duo took a sip from his soda. "What's your name?"

"Oh how stupid of us, we haven't even introduced ourselves!" The girl offered him her hand and smiled sweetly. Duo took it. "Hilde" she said. "What's yours?" 

At that moment Duo heard the radio shifting to the news. ". . .this is the 7 o'clock news of. . ." the rest he didn't hear as he jumped up. 7 o'clock? That meant he was more than an hour late! He glanced at the clock in the restaurant and saw that it was indeed that late already. He quickly withdrew his hand.

"Sorry, gotta go, I'm late!" He took off.

"Wait! I don't even know your name yet!" Hilde yelled after his retreating form. 

He glanced over his shoulder. "It's Duo!" he yelled back as he got out of the restaurant, hurrying back to the orphanage.

Duo was too late. He tried to sneak in the building without being seen, but mister Tsuborav spotted him and punished him. No dinner this evening and he got grounded. He could spend the rest of the evening in his room. Normally duo wouldn't have minded so much, he always spent a lot of time there anyway and about the food, he was used to being hungry, missing one dinner wouldn't kill him. But this time he was just pissed off. Mister Tsuborav felt the need to take his computer game from him. He could get it back in the morning. 

Duo lay on his bed, glaring at the ceiling. Tsuborav had no right to do that! He'd bought that game from his own money! First he lost his own CD and now he lost his own game! It might not seem important to anyone, but when you always had to share everything and were never able to buy anything for yourself for fun, this thing meant a lot. He was actually looking forward to something and now that man ruined it! Even in Wufei's words this would be injustice!

Damn he had to be really pissed if he even deliberately repeated Wufei.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. When Duo didn't answer the door slowly opened and a young, blond boy stepped in, carrying a tray of food. The boy walked up to Duo.

"I brought you some food." The little blond boy smiled polite. 

Duo narrowed his eyes at him. That smile just made him sick. And his anger didn't help his mood. So he decided to get his anger out and this boy just happened to be the unfortunate victim. "Lemme guess, you poisoned it, didn't you?"

The blond boy blinked, not understanding what the other boy meant. "No. . . I didn't poison it. Why would I do that?"

"Why not? You're probably better off without me, aren't you?" Duo smirked at the younger boy. He stepped forward to make the impression greater. "Aren't you?"

The younger boy clearly didn't understand what was going on. His eyes grew wide. "NO! That's not. . ." He looked as if he could burst out in tears any moment now. He quickly put down the plate and turned around to leave the room without looking back.

"That wasn't fair." Heero walked in and leaned his back against the wall, his arms crossed and his face wearing its usual scowl. Only this time the scowl almost seemed like a glare.

"Well excuse me!" Duo said sarcastically, throwing his arms in the air. "I didn't know he was such a great friend of yours!"

"Quatre was just trying to be nice."

Duo snorted and narrowed his eyes and gave him a sick laugh. "I don't want any charity."

"Even after everything he'd seen you do he saw some light in you. He tried to be your friend while no one else even wants you around anymore and you and your sick mind just blew the last opportunity you'd get!"

Duo smirked. 

_'So, you're not as perfect as you think you are after all.'_

"If you think about it that way, why don't YOU become his friend? Oh, right. I forgot. You don't socialize with those lower than you!"

Before he knew it he was down on the floor, arms pinned above his head. He struggled to break free but the weight that was put on him was too much. Suddenly he felt something hard coming down on his left eye.

'DAMN HIM! He's punching me!' 

Duo felt something crawling down on his face. So now he was bleeding too. And that in one blow, this guy really was strong. He got ready to receive the next blow, but it never came. He stared up in the face above him and the death glare he received almost had him gulping. But he could hold back just in time. He had really done it this time. He glared back at the youth above him, desperately thinking of a way to break out of his grip. He tried struggling but Heero was too strong. His grip seemed like iron handcuffs that cuffed him to the floor. 

"You'd better take that back." The youth warned him.

At that moment the door to their room opened and a girl stepped in. "Heero, I. . ." she broke off her sentence as she saw the two boys. 

Heero's grip loosened a moment when the girl spoke and Duo used this to his advantage, breaking out of the tight hold and throwing the boy off him. Heero was too startled by this to stop him and Duo flew to his troth. Just in time he ducked away and punched the braided boy in his stomach. he doubled over but recovered quickly, getting ready to punch again, this time aiming for the head. He hit his roommate right below his right eye and Heero burst against the wall. Duo wanted to throw himself at the other youth again, but at that moment someone grabbed his waist, roughly pushing him into the wall on the other side of the room where his attacker kept him restrained.

A female voice sounded. "Stop this, both of you!"

Duo glared at the one who was trying to hold him back. Miss Noin. He glanced at the other side of the room to see that Wufei was holding back Heero. Thought he seemed very willing to just let his friend go and watch where he would be taking this. 

Duo glanced around. A small group of children had gathered to see what was happening. In the middle of the room stood headmaster Sally.

"What is going on here?"

"It's his fault!" Duo said, trying to break free. But miss Noin had expected that and he held the youth back.

"Why you. . ." Now it was Heero's turn to try and break free. But he on his turn was held back by his Chinese friend. 

"Forget it, Yuy, he's not worth it."

Sally turned to look at the kids that had gathered. "Alright, you can get out now." The children looked at her but didn't move. "Go on, the show's over." One by one the children left the room. Sally turned back and looked at the two youths. "You two, in my office, now!"

,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸-( ¯|¯I3© )-,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸

Oooh! More trouble! Love it! Sorry Duo!

Duo: Don't worry about it, it's not your fault I lose my game.

Well, technically it is but we're not going to tell him that, are we?

Anyway, If you want to be on my mailing list or if you just want to say 'hi', my e-mail address is in my profile and if you have anything to say to me, ideas, criticism or anything, review. 'Cause you know it Ahummediaminerahum:

No review, no continue

Little Princess 


	6. Chapter six: Guilt

I'm sorry last chapter was so late, I completely forgot to update. How stupid of me! I'm sorry!

How come I got so few reviews??? Probably because I updated on Thursday. . . Should've known. . . And this time it was fanfiction.net too! Or on't you like this story anymore?

You've read half of the story now and I hope you all still like it! And you know it, tell me if you have ANYthing to say about this story.

**Review responses: Next time!A new life**

Chapter six: Guilt 

Duo fell asleep late that night. First he'd got scolded big time by Sally that his behaviour was completely out of the line and that it was unacceptable and that both him and Heero would be punished, no matter whose fault it was. 'When two people fight, two people are to blame.' Then she said she refused to transfer Duo to another room just so he could start his behaviour all over again and again until she found out there was no-one he could live with in peace. She told the boys they'd be separated for the night but they would join each other in their punishment tomorrow. What it would be she didn't say.

After Sally Duo had to face an angry Noin who kept telling him that this was no way to behave and that he should be lucky if they'd even let him stay here and that if he got sent away he'd go to jail after all. She told him that if he kept behaving like this he would have no-one left in the end and he'd end up even lower than he was before when he lived with Solo. 

Duo had to do his best not to let his anger out when she said that. She had no idea what life was like out there so how dare she accuse him of things she knew nothing about.

Duo could handle Sally to be mad at him, she was the headmaster and it was her job to be like that. But Miss Noin was different. He had started to like that woman and afterwards, once his anger had moved more to the background, he actually felt a little bad about her being mad at him. He really felt he'd done something wrong this time. He just couldn't help it, it was almost like it was in his nature to get into trouble all the time. Even when he didn't mean it.

He laid in bed, thinking about everything that had happened since he got arrested. He still wasn't sure he'd made the right choice by coming here, but he knew there was no way back now. Solo was gone and he was stuck here at the orphanage. 

Duo shivered. He was cold. He was always cold.

Finally, after hours, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning Duo was woken early by a knock on his door and Sally's voice telling him he had five minutes to get dressed and get ready to receive his punishment. When she came back he opened the door and saw Sally and Heero waiting for him. Neither one looked very happy.

Heero and Duo followed the woman to an old room. When she opened the door they entered a room with one large window in it that looked out over the playground of the orphanage.. In one corner stood a barstool, some paint and some supplies to paint with. Besides that the room was empty. 

"This room needs a new coat of paint but no-one seems to have time to do it so it's up to you two to paint it. The walls need two coats and the first one has to dry for three hours so you might want to be strategic about it. The paint is ready; it stands right there in the corner along with everything else you'll need." Sally looked at the boys who just nodded. "I'll have someone bring you some food later on. When this is done you can come and get me and I'll decide if it's enough." She turned to leave. "Have fun you two." She said and she left the room, closing the door behind her.

The two boys walked over to the paint and each got their own supplies. Without words they agreed that Heero would take the side of the door and Duo the side of the window. They started painting their own parts.

Breakfast had been brought and they had eaten it. After an hour or so, Duo couldn't tell, he had no watch, the door opened and the little blond boy entered. He gulped once when he saw the glare Duo sent his way as if to say he was to blame of them being there, and the young boy quickly made his way over to Heero.

"What is it, Quatre?" Heero asked the younger boy as he stopped painting.

Quatre looked down at his quietly moving feet. "That fight you had yesterday. . . I-it was about me, wasn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Heero asked monotonously. 

Quatre looked up. "Don't pretend I'm stupid, Heero, I'm not. I know it was my fault and it is my fault you're here now and I. . . I just wanted to say I'm sorry I got you into trouble."

Heero turned away from the boy and continued painting again. "Just forget it." Quatre blinked, but he didn't say anything more. He bowed his head and quietly walked over to the door.

"Quatre." Heero suddenly stopped him and the boy looked up again. "It wasn't your fault."

The young boy smiled weakly. "Thank you, Heero." And with that he left the room.

Duo had been watching the whole scene and now had a look of slight amusement on his face. "Looks like your little friend came to visit you." Heero glared at the braided boy as if to tell him to mind his own business. But he didn't use any words.

"What, so you're giving me the silent treatment now? That is so like you, things go bad and guess who decides not to speak? Heero Yuy." Duo now wore a huge grin on his face as he finally had something fun to do while he was painting. It was play time. He was going to annoy the hell out of Heero. "But don't worry, I've dealt with it before. Solo always said I could get a dead man to turn in his grave with my mouth. And since you don't speak you can't interrupt me either, meaning that I get to annoy the hell out of you for as long as we're stuck here together!"

_'Oh, this is going to be fun.'_

Heero growled softly as he got annoyed already.

"What was that? Di-did you say something? I thought I heard something." Heero seemed to ignore him. "No? Anyway, Do you have any idea how bad this paint smells? Well, you probably do since you and I are in the same room and we're probably smelling the same thing, you even more than I since I get to paint near the window so for my benefit the smell disappears trough it. Anyway, this smell isn't half as bad as most people say it is, I've smelt much worse than this. Have you ever smelt rotten fish before? Wait, don't answer that or you'll loose. Well, I guess you haven't anyway and you'd better be glad you haven't cause that is one smell you don't want to smell. Ugh! A guy can have nightmares over that. It just isn't normal. I think fish should be illegal. It smells bad and it tastes bad and. . ."

Suddenly Duo found himself pinned against the wall, arms above his head. This was really getting boring. He smiled innocent as he met the death glare of his attacker. "Shut the fuck up!" Heero growled dangerously.

"Hehe, you talked, I win!" Heero lifted one fist in the air and the braided boy closed his eyes as he expected a blow to follow. He kept his grin up to cover his fear, though. But the blow never came as Heero simply let go of him and walked over to his own side, continuing painting his wall, glaring at it all the time.

When the first coat was done they had to wait awhile before they could put on the next. Heero walked out of the room without a word. Duo sat down and begun eating his sandwich he'd saved. When he was done he got up and glanced around. What to do now? 

He knew the other coat wasn't dry yet, Heero would return when it was, he was sure of that. So now he'd just have to wait. Of course he could've gone out too but he didn't feel like running into anybody right now. So he decided not to leave. Sitting here in the smell of paint couldn't be very healthy, and he hoped Heero would return soon.

After awhile of sitting on the floor, doing nothing he got up and walked over to the window and glanced outside. A group of children was playing basketball. He watched them for a while before he moved his eyes over the rest of the playground. It was a warm day today for the time of the year and most of the children who didn't do sports were outside, playing, walking or chattering. They all seemed like they were having fun. 

Except for one, a little blond boy walked outside all by himself. Quatre had his hands deep inside his pockets and his face wore a sad expression. Duo followed him with his eyes. Suddenly, the boy's expression changed into a hopeful smile. The boy took his hands out of his pockets and looked around him. Then he walked over to another group of boys. When he came there Duo saw that they said something to him. He couldn't figure out what it was, but whatever it was, it must've been something mean. The little blonde one changed his expression back to an even sadder one than he had before and he slowly walked away from the group of laughing children.

"Quatre's kindness has already made him the black sheep of the orphanage." Duo jumped slightly. He was so busy following the young boy that he hadn't realized Heero had returned. If he'd noticed Duo jump he didn't seem to care as he just continued talking. "You just made it worse."

Suddenly Duo's stomach turned and for the first time in a long while he got that protective feeling again he always had when one of the younger kids in his group was treated wrong. He always got that urge to set things right, no matter who he was up against. Right now he had that same urge and it really bothered him knowing there was nothing he could do now.

He realized how bad he had been against the young boy and it hadn't been fair to do so. The fact that he didn't know the younger boy's position didn't mean he had any rights to call him a murderer. He knew he had to make up with the boy. He had to now.

"What did they say to him?"

"'Thanks for coming and have a nice journey back.'"

It was so low to say that. It was absolutely harsh and no good would ever come of it. 

Duo bowed his head as he realized his mistake. "How do you know?"

"He falls for it every time."

Heero picked up the paint- brush and started painting again. Duo decided to do the same. They were quiet for a long while.

Suddenly Duo interrupted the silence. "Heero?"

"Hn." 

". . .Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not saying anything about Solo."

"It's none of my business, why would I tell?" The shorter one asked monotonously. 

"you could've gotten me in a whole lot of trouble."

Heero shrugged, still with his back to Duo, painting his wall. "You're always in trouble."

"Yeah, guess it follows me around no matter where I go." Duo turned back to his own wall, not noticing how Heero gave him a weird glance.

Finally the room was done. Heero went out to tell Sally. When he returned with her she glanced around and nodded. "Looks like you're all done, it's faster than I thought it would be." She turned to the boys. "I hope you learned your lesson, I don't want any fighting inside my building, especially not between roommates. Understood?"

Both boys nodded, neither willing to speak.

"Good, now get on and have some fun. It's Saturday." The boys walked off. "Oh, and Duo?" Duo looked back to see what she wanted. Sally took something out of her pocket. The computer game and the batteries? "Mister Tsuborav said this was yours?"

,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸-( ¯|¯I3© )-,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸

Duo: Yay, I got my game back! 

This chapter is a bit short but I had to end it where I did. Next chapter will be normal length again. ****

If you want to be on my mailing list my e-mail address is in my profile.

Next time:

 "Okay, we'll make two teams and at the end of the class we'll see which one's the better. Wufei, Heero, you're team 1, Wufei chooses." The two boys stepped forward. "Trowa, Duo, you're team 2, Duo, you choose." 

Duo: "I choose. . ."

And you know it: No review, no continue though I doubt saying that would be unnecessary.

Little Princess 


	7. Chapter seven: Making up

A/N: There will be no update next week. I am very sorry for that, the chapter Is ready, the problem is that I go to Barcelona with school. I leave this Saturday and I won't be back until seven days later so you'll have to wait an extra week for the next update. SORRY ABOUT THAT! Hope you're not mad! Hides behind a chair But hey! This chapter is a little longer than average and at least I normally update every week so that should make up for it, right? Right?

**Review Responses: Only from ff.net, sorry mm.org readers, next time!**

SwomeSwan: The reason Duo isn't the best fighter is because he tried no to get involved in the street fights. Besides, in this chapter I say that Heero and Wufei are the better fighters in the orphanage. Thanx for your review. Here is the next chapter! Hope you're happy with it.

Cryearthstearsfalltou: Thank you for the review and the compliment. Here's the next chapter. Ja

Mimi: I like the idea of friendship too and besides, I'm way better at that than I am at writing romances. The sequel will involve love, but I'm not sure if that's going to be a Heero-Duo or a Duo-Hilde romance (tell me what you prefer). But that's the sequel, not this story. Here it's just building up a friendship.

Kitten: Duo tried not to get involved in street fights and Heero and Wufei are both good fighters too. That's the reason Duo might not sound all that well at it, but he really is if he has to be… Anyway, thanx for your review and here's the next chapter.

Sapphire angel:  Don't give up hope! Just try and write something and if it sucks, just update it anyway. People will be able to help you become a better writer. It's fun! You should try!

**A new life**

Chapter seven: Making up

Duo groaned as he woke up by the sound of his alarm clock. Monday. He hated Mondays. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to get out of bed on Monday. He had been playing all weekend with his new toy and he'd already reached the eighth level of Tetris. One more to go and he'd won. He was really addicted to the game and he remembered sleeping late because of it. By the time he did go to sleep he was shivering. He had been cold. He was always cold.

Duo threw the blankets off him, but as he did so felt something strange. There was something wrong with the blankets. He glanced at them. There were three blankets? They only got two each so where did the third one come from. He glanced at Heero who had already finished making his bed and started heading downstairs for breakfast. 

Duo glanced at his roommate's bed. 

Heero had only one blanket. That must've been why he didn't wake up in the middle of the night because of the cold like he usually would. Heero must've seen how duo was shivering and decided to give him one of his blankets. But why? Duo didn't deserve it. So far he'd only gotten Heero into trouble. Duo shrugged and got dressed, deciding not to waist any time figuring out that silent boy. Then he started folding the third blanket. When he was done he put the blanket on Heero's bed, hoping the boy would understand his offer of gratitude.

The last period of the Monday was gym. 

"Alright, now." The teacher started as everybody had gathered. "Today we're going to play basketball."

Most of the children cheered. Basketball was the most popular sport in the orphanage. They even had a school team which won prizes every year.

"Okay, we'll make two teams and at the end of the class we'll see which one's the better. Wufei, Heero, you're team 1, Wufei chooses." The two boys stepped forward. "Trowa, Duo, you're team 2, Duo, you choose." 

Duo groaned inwardly. Why couldn't he be teamed up with Heero? Out of those three, Heero was the best choice, but noooooo, someone had to team him up with that bastard Trowa. And above that, he had to pick his team members too.

Wufei chose of course one of his friends first. Now it was Duo's turn. He glanced around.

"I choose. . ."

Then he noticed a little blonde head. Quatre stood somewhere in the back, face towards the ground, probably waiting to be chosen last.

'Guess this is my chance to make up.' 

"I choose Quatre."

The class gasped and they started whispering immediately. Who would want to choose the little clumsy boy to be on his team? Quatre looked up as he heard his name and glanced around curiously to see who had mentioned it. 

Trowa obviously didn't agree with Duo. "There's now way that boy is going to be on MY team." He said. "It's bad enough that I have to put up with you, I'm not taking HIM too!"

Duo grinned, ignoring the distrusting look he saw Heero shooting his way. "It's my team and you're free to leave if you want to, I would never have chosen YOU anyway, I'll just pick someone else."

Trowa laughed as he put his hands on his hips. "Ha! You can't afford to miss me, choose someone else." 

Duo's grin was replaced by an even angrier look now. "Basketball is a team sport and I want Quatre to be on MY team. If YOU have any problems with that, YOU leave."

Trowa blinked. No one ever dared to speak to him like that. Not even the teachers. He glared at the braided boy who was trying to make a fool out of him in front of everybody, but he couldn't think of a good reply fast enough. So he just dropped it as he saw the stares of the other children.

"Alright, Quatre, you're on Duo's and Trowa's team." The teacher butted in. "Go on." Hesitating Quatre walked over to the other boys, obviously not knowing how to behave. Duo sent a quick smile his way before he turned his attention back to the choosing.

Class was over soon and Duo's team had won with 15 – 13. Quatre was no good in the game, but Duo didn't care. He had something to make up with the little boy. He had thrown the ball in his direction a few times, but the younger one completely screwed up, not knowing what to do. Trowa started yelling at the boy for making those mistakes but that only convinced duo even more to cheer for him. He kept telling the blonde one that next time he would do better. And he did get better. He even gave Duo the pass with which he scored the winning points.

Inside the dressing room Duo changed quickly. He could hardly wait to get back to his computer game to try and reach the next level. 

When he reached the corridor that lead to his room, he heard a voice calling his name. He looked back and saw that Quatre was following him. He paused in his tracks to let Quatre catch up with him. The boy came straight to the point. 

"Why did you choose me for your team?" 

Duo had expected him to sound angry or hopeful, but he didn't he sounded more. . . Desperate. Desperate to get an answer, to find out the truth. To find out if this was just an other joke, an other way to get an opportunity to stab him in his back whenever he wouldn't look. The young boy's face betrayed all these feelings.

Duo tried to think of what to say to him but he figured the only right thing would be the truth.

"I-I'm no good at apologizing, but. . ." He paused a moment as he saw Quatre's eyes grow wide. Then he sighed, knowing he couldn't go back now. "What I said the other night wasn't fair. I guess I was just hoping I could make up just a little bit."

Duo looked at the younger boy who just blinked in confusion. Then he narrowed his eyes in distrust.

"Are you doing this because of something Heero said?"

"Heero?" Duo looked at the little one. He understood where this was going. An apology is only worth something if it's really meant. If you're forced to apologize by something or someone else, it has no meaning at all. "No, he has nothing to do with this."

"Really?" the boy asked hopeful

"Yeah, I'm really sorry for what happened. You were just trying to be nice."

A silence followed as neither of the boys knew what to say. Duo looked down to his feet, not knowing where else to look.

The silence was broken by one of Trowa's friends, Darryl, one half of the twin, who just walked by. He looked at the two boys and smirked. "Well, well, when did you two become such good friends?"

Duo looked up and glared at him. "When did your face become so ugly?" Then he smirked as the other boy looked stunned. "Oh, right, I forgot, you were born with it! Sorry, my bad!"

The boy growled softly but he didn't dare to take on Duo on his own. He'd managed to hit both Heero and Wufei and they were considered one of the best fighters in the orphanage so he could probably beat him to a bloody pulp too. He decided not to try his luck and walked away, glaring from a distance.

"Damn those kids," Duo muttered, "ain't worth nothing without their precious Trowa around to protect them like little babies."

Duo started moving on to his own room, followed by a stunned Quatre. "How do you do that?"

Duo blinked. "Huh? Do what?"

"You know, saying those remarks to make them go away."

"Learned it on the streets." They had reached Duo's room and he walked in. "You need to open your mouth once in awhile if you want to survive."

"The streets?" Quatre didn't understand what he was saying. Duo looked at him. He stood at the edge of the room, not sure if he was allowed to enter. So Duo invited him in with a nod from his head. He closed the door behind the youth and sat down on his bed as Quatre sat down on Heero's, waiting for an explanation. 

_'Why am I telling him this? It's dangerous if someone knows too much.'_

It was bad enough that Heero had found out already, then why was he telling Quatre? Well, he'd spilled it already, might as well tell him all. Quatre didn't look like one to go around telling anyway. Of course you could never now for sure so he decided to be careful anyway.

"I've been in another orphanage before, but I ran away. I lived on the streets for four years before they brought me here."

"So that is why that lady wants to talk to you."

"What?" 

"Oh," Quatre seemed ashamed he told him that, "I-I just see you and her entering a private room every Monday at four. I didn't mean to spy on you or something! I just. . . Saw."

Duo looked at him and smile weakly. "It's okay. That's Miss Noin, a social worker. She has to keep an eye on me to 'keep me from running away again' or something."

"Are you gonna?" Quatre asked.

"What? Running away again?" Quatre nodded. "I don't think so."

"Why not? Didn't you have any friends out there?"

"Friends?" Duo smiled as he remembered all the good times he'd had with Solo and the others. "Yeah, I had friends. But that was all I had." He sighed as the good pictures were replaced by bad. "We went days without food or shelter, even in the winter. Snow or sun, rain or not, it didn't matter, every day was another fight for survival. We had no money, no food, no future."

"But you learned to stand up for yourself. I really wish I could do that sometimes. You know, like what you did with Trowa on the playfield. I would never dare to do that, especially not in front of so many people."

At that moment the door opened and Heero walked in. 

"Oh, hey Heero." Quatre said as he got up from Heero's bed. But Heero shook his head to tell him he could sit down. He glanced at the scene and shot Duo a weird look. Then he saw the blanket Duo had folded and placed on his bed. He shot the braided boy another look, this time questioning him. Duo smiled weakly in order to thank the boy. Heero nodded and put his bag down. Then he walked over to the desk and started to do his homework.

Duo spoke up, ignoring Heero's presence now. "Having a big mouth isn't everything, you know. You can really hurt people with it and it'll only get you into trouble."

"At least you got Trowa to shut up."

Duo laughed. "You think he's gonna leave me alone now?"

"He's not?"

"No way! I hurt his precious pride and that in front of a whole class. He's sure to get back at me for that."

Quatre blinked. "But. . .aren't you afraid he's going to hurt you then or something?"

"Not really. That's what he wants, to get me scared. I'd say let him try."

"But he's got a lot of money and a great part of it went to the orphanage. All the teachers are behind him. He really has a lot of influence, he can get away with practically anything. And his friends would do anything for him. How are you planning to win against all of them."

"And money's all he's got," Duo reasoned, "so he's hiding behind it. It's the only reason he even has friends."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I can't see how anyone would like to hang around a spoiled kid like him otherwise. But he'll find the truth one day and then he'll be more miserable than he'd ever imagined."

"Maybe." The boys were silent for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly Quatre jumped up. "Oh no, it's almost four already. I have to go, I have to do some homework." He paused a moment as he looked at Duo who looked back. "Don't you have to go to that lady either?" 

"Noin can wait." 

Duo got up and followed Quatre to the door. The blonde one turned back once and smiled. 

"Thank you, Duo."

"No, Quatre, thank YOU."

At that, Quatre ran off to his own room.

Duo turned around to see Heero staring at him, leaning against the desk, arms crossed, face wearing its usual scowl.

"You'd better be serious about Quatre or you'll be sorry."

"Don't worry, Hee-chan, He's okay."

"Hee-chan?" 

Duo grinned broadly. "Yeah, a nickname. You like it?"

Heero narrowed his eyes. "No."

"Good, then that's what I'll call you from now on."

Heero glared at the youth but Duo just increased his smile and turned for the door. "Later Hee-chan!"

,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸-( ¯|¯I3© )-,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸

If you want to be on my mailing list my e-mail address is in my profile.

Alas no update next week. Sorry, but I'll be in Barcelona (Spain for those who do not know) having FUN! Maybe the week of fun without a computer will inspire me to make even better chapters and stories! Sorry for all those waiting, but I can not help it. Anyway, hope you can wait another week. Thank you!

No review, no continue

Little Princess 


	8. Chapter eight:Boring but not unimportant

Yahoo, I'm back from Barçelona! It was great! The weather was great, the beach was great, the hotel was great, the Ramblas was great. . . I could tell you everything but that's not what you're here for, you're here for the long awaited chapter eight!

Woah, this is already chapter eight! Just two more chapters after this one. I hope you all still like it, I like it! Oh, and I could use some advise on what to do with the sequel. Like, which pairing do you prefer,  Duo x Hilde  or  Duo x Heero? Let me know so I can begin writing it.

**Review responses: (let's start with mediaminer this time. ONLY 1 REVIEW??? SHAME ON YOU READERS!!!)**

meiakutenshi: Well, I hope the week went by fast enough for you. And I can tell you I had fun writing the part where Trowa gets back at Duo. I doubt the braided boy likes it just as much, though. . . Thank you for reviewing, you're the only reviewer from mm.org. 

Patty: I don't like Relena either, but I don't feel like bashing her. She might have a small role in the sequel though, but she won't appear here. And thank you for your opinion on the pairing.

Cryearthstearsfalltou: I wasn't sure if the conversation was good enough for the story, I think it makes Duo too soft and open. But I had to put it in there to explain a few things to the reader. I won't make him weak like that again! Thanks for your review.

Kyra: Thank you for liking it and thanks for your review!

Yamilijah-Lal: Thank you for your compliment. I've read those stories where they're all friends but most of the time that goes too fast. I don't see a friendship growing in the show either, it's like it is suddenly there because the have to co-operate. That's why I wanted to make this story different. And Trowa… All I can say is that I am creating a background so he can turn into his silent self in the sequel. . . Thanks for your review!

Midnight-kisses: Here's the update, sorry you had to wait so long! Thank you for your review!

**A new life**

Chapter eight: Boring but not unimportant 

That night Duo couldn't sleep. It became normal that he couldn't so he wasn't bothered by it anymore, but he'd still like to just fall asleep and not wake up for at least until the week was over because then he wouldn't have to go to school for awhile. The vacation was coming up. A whole week without school. Duo didn't know for sure if it was something to look forward to, he'd just have to wait and see. After this vacation they only had four more weeks until the Christmas vacation.  

_'Christmas. Wonder what that is like.' _

He thought about what had happened today. That Quatre seemed like a nice guy, a little naïve maybe but still nice. He was too kind for his own good, though. He was too afraid to hurt others that he'd just let them hurt him instead and that was bound to go wrong. One day or another, the boy would snap and either cut his own wrists, or somebody else's. Duo didn't like that thought and he had no idea how he could be sure tat would happen if this continued to go on like this, he just knew it would. 

He didn't know what to think about the boy at all. Without even thinking about it he'd told him he came from the streets. He'd let his defences open and strangely enough he didn't get hit. . .Yet. He doubted Quatre would ever try to hurt him by what he'd told, but what if he'd just blurt it out like that? The whole school could know by tomorrow that he was just a street rat who didn't really belong here. Then what would happen? He'd better hope the best for it.

He knew he could never hurt Quatre. He'd felt protective over him ever since he'd watched him from the window, ever since he saw how others treated him. But now that he'd actually had a conversation with the young boy, that feeling had just grown. He'd felt like the platinum blonde was one of the younger group members that he and Solo used to look out for. He didn't know if this was either good or bad, this wasn't the street, but he did know it was something to keep him here. 

Duo closed his eyes and immediately the image of Saria's painting showed up. He hadn't thought of that in a long while. The picture seemed appropriate, though. The young girl had painted it to give herself hope, a goal. For the first time in a long while Duo felt like he had a goal again, something to fight for. He would teach Quatre how to stand up for himself. 

Duo knew it for sure now. He would stay here. But for how long? How long would he survive this place that only offered him a future? Duo pulled the blankets further over him. He shivered. He was cold. He was always cold.

Suddenly he heard some movement next to him. He glanced at the other bed to see that Heero was still awake. Heero removed one of his blankets and offered it to Duo, who at first rejected it. 

"Take it." Heero said with an expression that said there would be no arguing. "You need it more than I do."

Duo took the blanket giving Heero a worried look. "Aren't you cold?"

"I'm warm." 

"Geez, where are you from, Antartica or something?" Duo joked.

"Japan."

". . . huh?"

But the elder boy ignored all further sounds.

For the next days Duo and Quatre spent most meals at the same table. Neither had anybody else to sit with anyway and, if he were completely honest, Duo liked having some company once in awhile. He literally saw the expression in the younger one's eyes changing by the day, getting more and more life in them.

Most children gave the two strange looks during meals or any other time they were together, but hardly anybody said anything, afraid they'd have to deal with Duo's wrath if they said something negative. He had built up quite a reputation already and he preferred to keep it that way. Those who were stupid enough to say something about Quatre could expect a harsh remark from a certain braided youth.

Quatre had still been a little distant the first few days and he hardly spoke when he was the subject, but Duo could understand that. From what he'd heard from Heero, Quatre had had a pretty hard time here in the orphanage and he'd be stupid if he'd just trusted the first person that tried to get closer to him. So Duo gave the younger boy all the time he needed to find out Duo really wouldn't hurt him. It bought him some time to get to trust the other boy too.

The results were higher than Duo had expected. After a week the youth already seemed pretty much confident that spending time with Duo wasn't a bad thing. And Duo had found that out about the blonde one too.

It was not like they spent entire days together, mostly just meals but they'd talk together and Duo would stick up for Quatre. Heero was still suspicious, though. Duo had the impression the elder boy thought he'd only befriended Quatre just so he could throw him down hard when the time came. And then Quatre would fall really, really hard. Duo wasn't even sure he'd survive.

Speaking of Heero, the relationship between him and Duo had changed too. Thought Heero was still suspicious about Duo's reasons for becoming Quatre's friend, he started to show signs of 'relaxing' around the youth. Duo kept calling him 'Hee-chan' and Heero would get mad, which, of course, only satisfied Duo more, but it was more like a game between the two boys than a real fight. Trying to annoy or scare the other off as much as possible to see who would win. And Heero was even using his death glares for it. But Duo had learned just to ignore them. He'd been with Heero long enough now to know that he'd only try something is there was really something wrong. This was just an innocent game.

Heero didn't have many friends himself either. Sure, Wufei was a friend, but Duo had rarely seen them together. Wufei had a whole bunch of guys hanging around him and Heero was more of a loner. If you needed him, the first place you'd check was the library to see if he was using a computer and the second place was his laptop in his own room.

Heero had some other friends but they were all like Wufei. Just some guys he'd hang out with now and then, but that was it. Wufei seemed closest, though. Him and Heero usually worked together on school assignments and that kind of stuff, much to Duo's dislike. It meant he saw that Chinese boy more than he wanted to.

Wufei hadn't been in Heero's room much ever since his own fight with Duo, though. The braided boy suspected this was because of him, but he couldn't care less. Even though it had been about five weeks ago, he still hadn't forgiven the Chinese boy for breaking his CD. And the other youth on his turn had probably not yet forgotten who attacked him not so long ago.

Vacation! That was the first thought that went trough Duo's head when he heard the school bell ring at 15.10 that Friday. He put his books into his bags and hurried back to his room. Finally, he had some privacy. He always hurried back to his room Friday after school. Though he knew Heero would be there, after being forced into socializing with people you don't like for a whole week, one could use some time alone.

Apparently, not everyone felt that way.

Only minutes after duo fell down on his bed, someone knocked on the door. Duo glanced at Heero who looked at the door. Just when Duo was about to ask if he was expecting someone, a voice came.

"Anybody in here?" 

_'Quatre? What does he want?'_

"Yeah, come in." Duo said, wondering what he wanted now. He didn't really feel like hanging out with the boy, but he didn't want to disappoint him either. So instead he just put up the mask he had for occasions like these. Hey, it always worked with the group back on the streets, why not now?

The door opened and Quatre stepped inside. He smiled shyly as he glanced from Heero to Duo. "Hi."

Duo smiled widely. "Hey, what'ya doin' ere, Q?"

Quatre blinked before he realised 'Q' meant him. "Well. . ." The little blonde one started uneasy. "I was wondering if you wanted to come and get some ice cream with me?"

Duo blinked. "Ice cream? Now? Eh. . . Quatre, you DID notice we're somewhere at the end of the fall, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I suddenly felt like ice cream." He looked at his feet. "Or is that stupid?"

"Well, not stupid, just. . ." Damn, how was he going to save himself now without hurting the fragile boy? "Unexpected!"

Heero shot the braided boy a weird look, but he didn't speak up. Instead he turned back to his computer, knowing Duo had got his warning. Quatre hadn't noticed anything, though.

"I guess. . . But still, do you want to come? My treat!"

Duo grinned! "Q-man, you just said the magic words! Let's go." He took his jacket from his chair.

Quatre turned to Heero, who had been watching the whole conversation. "You want to come too, Heero?"

"No thanks." The youth answered.

"'Kay then," Duo grinned, "bye Hee-chan!"

"Do you want to keep that braid?"

"Touch it and die, Hee-chan." Duo grinned as he closed the door.

Quatre frowned at Duo as he followed him. "Hee-chan?"

"Yup! I decided he could use a nickname."

"But why? Heero's a nice name and besides, he doesn't seem to like it."

Duo grinned. "I know! That's the whole point."

,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸-( ¯|¯ I3© )-,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸

Okay, not too long and not too interesting either, just two small conversations. But it was necessary (damn, I know like 100 ways to write that damned word but only 1 is right!) I'll make up for it in the next chapter, promise!

Next time: Duo paused a moment before he said that sentence he was dreading to speak. But finally he turned his head in the direction of his 'studying' roommate. "Why do you hate me?"

If you want to be on my mailing list my e-mail address is in my profile

And you know it, No review, no continue (while you're at it, please tell me which pairing you like: 1x2 / 2xhilde)

Little Princess 


	9. Chapter nine: Fights

**_MEDIAMINER READERS!_** If you don't review, I won't post any sequel here! 1 review a chapter is NOT enough!

Yes, this is already chapter 9! One more chapter after this and this story is finished! Awwwww. Well, I hope you are all still with me and I hope you still like this story. I know I do! Wow, next week this will be the 2nd story I've finished! I am so proud of myself! And to think I wrote this (first version) in no more than a week! Of course, I re-read it many times to make it better and this is the result. Okay. . . I'll stop now because I'm acting as if this were the last chapter, which it isn't. Have fun reading! 

Oh, one more thing. You can still vote for your favourite couple! 1x2 or 2xHilde?

****

**Review responses:**

Mei-akutenshi: I'm glad you like the chapter. I prefer dialogues so I put one in at last minute but I still found the chapter boring to read and write. It was just necessary (again, how many ways of writing can one come up with?) to explain a thing or two. Thank you for your vote and have fun reading!

Midnight-kisses: 2x5? That might indeed be hilarious. . . Though it's not a pairing I like that much and since it will be the first time I write a pairing, I'd like to have one I am more comfortable with. Thanks for your vote!

Joutei: I am glad you like the fic and I am warned too. But to see which pairing will come, you'll have to wait one more chapter. . . Thank you for your vote

Kyra: I agree, poor Q. The Christmas will have to wait for the sequel, though, this story ends before that. Thanks for your vote!

Sapphire angel: It will be the first time I write a couple so I don't know where I will take it exactly. I prefer the friendships too (that's why this story has only that) but I really want to try something new. Thanks for your vote, though.

Voices of Insanity: Nice banner you got there! I hope this chapter is soon enough for you? Anyway, thanks for your vote.

Cryearthstearsfalltou: yup, poor q-ball. But he's got Duo now and Duo's got him. Happy for them?

Mimi: This story doesn't get any couples, would be a bit late anyway since there's only one more chapter after this one. It's true that Duo and Hilde only met once, I kinda forgot about her :$ but she will come back in the sequel. Quatre will be more brave too (can't tell what happens, won't spoil anything but he's brave in the show too so he will be in the sequel) 3x4? Nope, that's one couple I won't do. I'm not sure what their relationship will be, but it's not a couple. I hate how people make them act as a couple. Thanks for your vote!

Shingami02: thank you for your vote, here's the next chapter. Soon enough? Hope you like it.

****

**A new life**

Chapter nine: fights

Duo spent most of the vacation with Quatre. Or rather, Quatre spent it with Duo. Not that Duo minded that. In the beginning he found the blonde one a bit intrusive, but that had changed. He grew used to it fast and he was glad he had someone to listen to his ramblings about how bad the food was or anything else he came up with. And Quatre, not half the speaker Duo could be, listened to the elder boy with amusement.

When school started again two weeks ago, Duo gave him the computer game to borrow and now the young one was addicted to it too. Duo had reached the last level several times now and somehow that spoiled most of the fun. So he showed Quatre how to play the game instead and now the younger boy couldn't keep his hands off it. He even was late for school once because of that thing.

So between duo and Quatre everything went well, but Heero was a different story. He seemed to be changing or something. And not for the better. Duo thought he would be glad that Quatre had a friend now and that he had more privacy now that Duo went out sometimes to spend time with Quatre. But instead the past two weeks or so the silent boy had become more distant than he was before and when he _did _speak to Duo he sounded as if he'd rather be having a conversation with a dog. And he didn't even play the game about his nickname anymore.

It hurt Duo more than he wanted, but he would never admit that. Only now he realised he'd actually grown fond of the silent, elder boy. When did that happen? Before the fight? After it? And why? Why did Heero all of a sudden act like that towards him? Did he do something wrong? Not for as far as he could remember.

Duo didn't like it one bit. He didn't want Heero as an enemy at all, but the boy was starting to ask for something. Another reason for not wanting Heero as an enemy was that he knew Duo came from the streets. If that ever came out, Duo would be screwed. He just knew it.

He wanted to find out why the youth was acting so weird, and fast. But how would he do that? He could just ask him of course, but he doubted he'd get a straight answer then. Hell, maybe Heero didn't even realize what he was doing and he'd get mad at Duo for even suggesting it.

_'That's a chance I'm going to have to take.'_

He opened the door to their room. Heero, as expected, sat behind the desk, doing homework. . . Or whatever he did there anyway. 

"Hey, Heero." Duo greeted him.

Heero didn't turn around. "So you remember my name after all."

"Surprised?" Duo fought the urge to grin. His mask would hide everything. That way Heero would never tell the truth. Not to a laughing idiot.

But Heero ignored the seriousness in his roommate's voice as he just grunted a 'hn' and left it with that. So Duo decided on a different approach. He walked up to the boy and began reading what he was reading, knowing Heero hated it when someone was looking over his shoulder. He saw that Heero was doing history, but before he could see what he was actually reading, the book slammed shut and he found Heero glaring at him. "Stop reading over my shoulder!"

Duo rolled his eyes, but decided not to fight back. At least he'd gotten the boy's attention.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Duo referred to the fact that it was Friday night. "Shouldn't you be out with Wufei and his friends or something?"

"Shouldn't you be with Quatre?" Heero shot back. 

Duo sighed. He'd told Quatre he'd be over later to show him how one of the other games worked. He hadn't mentioned a time, though, so he didn't exactly have to leave now. He sat down on his bed and Heero opened the book again. Duo looked at his hands and a silence followed. 

Duo felt himself getting uncomfortable. Heero had cut off the conversation with an angry remark again and Duo was sure he knew his roommate well enough to draw the conclusion that indeed something was bothering him. Just like he knew. 

_'Now the problem is, how do I get it out of him?'_

It wasn't like this was the first time he tried to get it out, though every tactic he'd tried to get to the right subject had failed. There was only one he hadn't tried yet. . . Direct approach.

"Hee-chan?"

No answer. 

"Heero?" Duo asked a little more serious now.

"What?" The irritated boy still didn't turn away from his book.

Duo paused a moment before he said that sentence he was dreading to speak. But finally he turned his head in the direction of his 'studying' roommate. "Why do you hate me?"

"'Cause you won't shut up and look over my shoulder."

"No, I don't mean just now, I mean the past few weeks."

Now Heero tilted his head a bit, still not looking back. "What?"

"Don't pretend you don't know, Heero Yuy." Heero looked at the braided boy. He'd never spoken his last name before. He opened his mouth to saw something, but Duo ignored him. "You've been acting weird for weeks now! Ever since I started to hang out with Quatre." Then it struck him. "Wait a minute. That's it, isn't it? You pitied me because I had made no friends so you acted normal to me but now that I have Quatre you think you can act like a bastard!"

Heero narrowed his eyes and gave Duo a perfectly serious death glare, but Duo pretended to be oblivious to it. 

"Yeah, maybe I have Quatre as my friend now, but that doesn't give you the right to act like that! I mean look at yourself for a change! You're the bastard with no friends here now, you know! You show people a bit of yourself and then you close yourself again. Half the orphanage likes you but non-of them are really your friends, now are they? And you pitied me?"

Duo gave him a sick laugh. "Ha, _I _should be the one to pity _you_. But you're too much of a bastard for me to even care!"

With that he stalked out of the small room and slammed the door shut, leaving Heero with a jaw that practically hit the basement.

It was cold outside that night and the jacket he wore was thin. But he didn't care. He needed to cool off anyway. Damn how he hated that kid. Well, he was hardly a kid anymore, but that didn't matter. He still hated him.

When he realised why Heero had been acting like this, Duo felt like he could rip him apart. He didn't want Heero's pity, he didn't need it. He was Duo, the boy with no last name, the street rat that had never been caught red handed, one that knew how to survive without a penny in his pocket. There was no way anyone would pity him!

He'd gotten mad at Heero, real mad. Maybe a little too mad? 

Duo brushed that thought away. No, he didn't overreact. Everything he'd said was true, every word. He knew the truth could hurt, but why this much? Why had he grown so fond of Heero? What did he want with him? Sure he was nice to look at and he looked cute when mad, which was about all the time lately, but surely that didn't mean anything, right?

Whatever he thought of his roommate didn't matter now. He was mad at him. And for good reasons. He was certain of that. 

Though he couldn't shake off the thought that he might have gotten a little too angry in there. He couldn't help but thinking, what if. . . What if he was wrong and Heero really didn't realise what he was doing? Or what if he had another explanation? Heero would probably never admit anything, but still. Should he really have jumped to conclusions like that? Compared to how others in the orphanage acted towards him, Heero was still pretty nice.

Maybe he should go back and apologizing. But could he? Could he swallow his pride for once and admit that he was wrong? Could he do that in front of Heero? He would never forgive him, that's for sure. Man, how did Solo always manage to bring that up? 

Duo knew he had to do it, though. If anything, he owed it to Solo. The years they'd spent together, fighting to survive, shouldn't be forgotten over such a small issue that had driven them apart. When Solo was down because of his little brother, Duo had been the one to pull him up. And when Duo had given up on life two years after he'd run away, it was Solo who helped him see the light again and who convinced the youth not to commit suicide or do anything along those lines.

Duo had made up his mind. Everything Solo stood for, everything he'd taught Duo, the only way he could remember that now was to swallow his pride and apologize for being too angry and for drawing conclusions. He didn't have to say he didn't mean what he'd said, well maybe that about the friends, but he did have to apologise. And that was exactly what he was going to do.

Duo shivered. He was cold. He was always cold. He looked up and realized he was back at the orphanage. He glanced at the big clock that hung on the outside wall of the building. He'd been outside for almost two whole hours! It wasn't 11 o'clock yet, though. That meant he would be able to enter the building without anyone questioning where he'd been.

Duo went in the building and quietly walked up the stairs, still half lost in thoughts. But right when he wanted to turn and walk into the corridor that led to his room, someone grabbed him from behind, pressing a hand oton his mouth and pinning his arm behind his back. He was caught by surprise, but as soon as he realised what was happening he started kicking and struggling, trying to break free. 

Duo tried to yell at his attacker but whoever it was, he was effectively blocking his mouth from any escaping sound. He heard a voice behind him, telling him to shut up and then he heard another one, telling to hurry it up, probably speaking to his partner in crime. Then he felt something hard hitting his head and he started to feel dizzy. Soon, he blacked out.

,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸-( ¯|¯I3© )-,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸

I know it's short but the next chapter is the longest because. . .I really hate to say this but. . . It's the LAST CHAPTER!

;;

Next time: "Squirm all you want, little one, it won't work."

Damn it! Duo recognised the voice, but he couldn't remember whom exactly it belonged to. "Who the hell are you? And where am I?"

**_MEDIAMINER READERS!_** If you don't review, I won't post any sequel here! 1 review a chapter is NOT enough!

If you want to be on my mailing list my e-mail address is in my profile

No review, no continue

Little Princess


	10. Chapter ten: The end

I got so many reviews last chapter! They inspired me to start correcting this chapter today (And of course, the death threats helped too…). I know I left it at a cliff-hanger and I know that is unfair since this is the last chapter and I also know that the story seems far from finished, but just read on and be satisfied. It's already longer than the other chapters are, but I'll still tried to add something extra here, for all of you who requested this.

Review responses

Battousai: SOMETHING happened! Read on to find out. Enjoy the last chapter!

Duo/Folken/TK: There will be more of Hilde. Thank you for your vote and enjoy the last chapter!

Midnight-Kisses:Yes, you mentioned 5x2. well, here's the last chapter. Enjoy

Westwind: I prefer friendships too, but next story will be my first pairing and this is going to be a real challenge. The fact that nothing is resolved yet is what makes this ending so great. I like open endings. Just read the last chapter and have fun!

Sapphire angel: I will, here's the last chap. Enjoy!

Galyn: nope, it's not too late. Thank you for your vote. And please don't hate me! Here's next chapter! throws chapter and hides behind a chair Fast enough?

Voices Of Insanity: Here's next chapter, please put the bazooka down now? See for yourself what happens. And thank you for your vote

Cryearthstearsfalltou: Did I finally get your name right am I going to end the story. Today some things will be resolved, just read on. And yes, there will be a sequel… someday…-

Devylzangyl: Nope, it's not too late yet! Thanks for your vote, I'm glad you like this story so much. Here's last chapter!

SanosukeLover – Milly Maxwell: Waves with paper Here's the next chapter, please let me go! Enjoy reading it

Kyra: Here he is! Read on to see what happens.

Okay, that were the reviews. Now on with what you've all been waiting for. . .the LAST CHAPTER!

**A new life**

Chapter ten: The end

Duo woke up with a terrible headache. He groaned as he opened his eyes and saw he was surrounded by darkness. He took some time to let his eyes adjust to this before he tried to get up, only to realise he already was up. Half up at least, he was sitting up straight, in a chair, but for some reason, he couldn't move his hands?

It took a moment to dawn in on him what must've had happened. FUCK! Someone had surprised him and grabbed him and hit him on his head and now he was tied up?! He began moving his wrists, trying to break free of the ropes that were holding him tied to the chair. Then he heard an amused voice, causing him to freeze.

"Squirm all you want, little one, it won't work."

Damn it! Duo recognised the voice, but he still had a headache from the hit on the head, so he couldn't get straight whom exactly it belonged to. Only one way to find out in a position such as this. ..

"Who the hell are you? And where am I?"

"Why, you're in the orphanage, of course. As to the question who I am, why don't you see for yourself?"

That said, the light switched on and Duo saw he was indeed in the orphanage. He was in one of the bigger bedrooms facing the window. The door was behind him so he saw no one yet. Until a figure decided to step into his visual range, coming face to face with Duo. Long, brown bangs of hair covered half of the face that was smiling satisfied.

Duo glared up at him and a growl left his troth as he called the person responsible for this all by his name "Trowa!"

"I'm pleased to see you remember me so well." The tall one said in a mocking tone. "I hate to be forgotten."

Duo glared at the rich boy, but he couldn't think of anything to do. Trowa stepped forward, clearly satisfied by his captive's anger.

"We have something to settle between us. You see, no one makes a fool out of me and gets away with it just like that." Trowa said as he walked to stand behind Duo and grabbed the boy's shoulder, squeezing it to show his power. "And you managed to do it in front of a whole lot of people. You really made me angry, you know that?"

"You can go to jail for kidnapping, you know _that_?" Duo spat back. "And your money ain't worth nothin' in there!" Nice choice of words if he did say so himself. Checking the grammar he was double denying, which actually confirmed the fact that it would be useful indeed. Many of the guards would be easy to bribe, or so Duo figured, which meant that technically he wasn't lying, but he _was_ scaring the rich bastard.

Trowa, now in front of Duo again, smirked. "And I guess a street rat like you should know, eh?"

"WHAT!"

"You were right when you told little blondy I was planning on getting back to you." Trowa lowered his head until his mouth reached Duo's ears. "But now I have a much better idea." He backed up again and turned his back to Duo.

"This orphanage exists because of MY money. And I don't want it wasted on a dirty, lowlife, good-for-nothing street rat. So I decided you'll have to go. Out of your own free will of course" Trowa added the last part as if he would give Duo a choice but he didn't buy it.

"You eavesdropped on a private conversation? Who would've guessed, the rich boy going so low. An' that for nothin' but a street rat." Duo grinned at the boy. "Well, I've got some news for you too, buddy. I ain't goin' nowhere so untie me now before I get really angry."

Trowa laughed and made a movement with his hand. Only moments later Duo felt something touching his shoulder and he realised he was not alone with the rich boy. He guessed the ones behind him were the same ones that had grabbed him before. He moved his shoulders as much as the ropes would let him.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME YOU DIRTY. . ." Then he felt something touching his braid and his eyes grew wide as he realised what they were planning to do. "No, no not the HAIR!"

"Relax, little rat, nothing will happen to your precious braid. That is of course, IF you decide to sign this." He showed Duo a form that one needed to fill in if requesting to be transferred. The form was all filled in under his name and even a reason why he would want to leave was there. All that it needed now was a signature. 

Duo narrowed his eyes at the boy in front of him. "Never!" He almost growled.

But Trowa just laughed. "Are you sure? I know you'd hate to see that brown hair of yours go. How long did it take you to get it this long? And besides, if it does, than how am I going to hurt you by pulling it?" At that the braid received a hard yank, causing Duo to yelp in pain.

"Now sign it!"

"NO!"

"Fine then." Trowa looked at whoever was behind Duo. "Cut it off."

Duo closed his eyes, waiting for the weight on his head to lessen, but it never did. Instead, a voice spoke up. "I-I don't know, Trowa. Should we really be doing this?"

"Yeah," another voice spoke, "I mean, what if we get caught? It's not like his hair won't be noticed and stuff."

Duo now recognised the voices. They belonged to the identical twin, Jeice and Darryl, Trowa's 'first henchmen'. 

"If we get caught, they won't do anything to us. They can't. If they do, they'll loose their money and the building's got to close, including the school, remember?"

"Maybe they won't do anything to you, but we're not rich, you know. They'll throw us out for sure!"

Trowa started to sound irritated now. "I'll cover for you guys, just do what I pay you for!"

"Cover for us? Like you did last time?" the hand on Duo's shoulder was withdrawn now. "Sorry Trowa, but count me out. It's going too far. I don't want to have anything to do with this anymore."

Duo heard footsteps, followed by something being put down and a door opening. 

"Fine! Go then! Do as you wish!" Trowa yelled as the door slammed shut. "But don't you EVER expect anything from me anymore, Darryl!" He looked at the one still present. "I'll pay you double, Jeice, to do it."

Duo felt the grip on his hair loosen until his braid was free again. "Sorry, Trowa. But why don't you spend your money one something better and do it yourself." Again the door opened and closed as the second boy left.

Trowa glared at the door but didn't say anything. Duo saw this was his queue to speak up. "What? Did your servants leave you? Aww, poor boy. Well, if you'd just been eavesdropping yourself you would've heard me saying that your money would become your downfall eventually. Your actions can not exactly be explained as a singular way of buying friendship and of course everybody knows that bought friendship just isn't as good as. . ."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Trowa now grabbed the braid himself now and pulled it down hard enough to make Duo yell in pain as his head was forced backwards. Trowa's face was red with anger as he did so. He grabbed something from behind him, probably the scissors Darryl was holding before.

Duo tried to move his head in panic. "NO, GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! DON'T DO THAT! NO!" he yelled desperately, but Trowa just laughed harshly as he put the scissors against Duo's hair. He was just about to cut it when the door suddenly burst open, causing Trowa to jump and relocate the scissors before he cut.

Duo felt how Trowa's hand yanked his braid once more before he let go and was slammed against the wall in front of Duo. He felt how someone reached for his hands and began to untie them.

"You don't belong here, you dirty street rat!" Those were Trowa's last words before a certain Chinese fighter knocked him out with a single movement.

As soon as Duo's hands were free he reached for his hair. He realized Trowa did manage to cut of a few centimetres, but he was relieved that was all. For a moment there he thought that the last memory of his past would be gone by now, but luckily Wufei came just in time.

Duo got up from the chair, only to fall to his knees immediately. Not only was he exhausted, but injured as well from the fight he'd put up with the twin when they caught him. He realised he was still a little dizzy from the hit on his head. Someone ran up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. 

"Duo! Are you all right?" Duo recognised the voice next to him belonged to Quatre. He glanced around to see who else was there and spotted Heero near the door as if guarding it. Then he looked at the youth who had kneeled next to him. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." He reassured his friend. "Just a bit dizzy, that's all."

At that moment Sally walked in, followed by Jeice and Darryl. She glanced at the scene before she rushed forward to help check Duo. When she saw he was all right she walked up to Trowa. After checking his pulse she gently picked him up. She glanced at the twins. "You two are dismissed. You'll hear from me later." Then she turned to the others. "You four go to my office and wait for me while I take Trowa to the infirmary." She looked at Duo. "Do you think you can make it there?" 

Duo nodded and Sally left the room, carrying the unconscious Trowa. Heero bent down and supported Duo's body as he and Quatre helped him up. Slowly the trio started for sally's office, followed by a silent Wufei. 

"How did you guys find me?" Duo finally asked.

To his surprise it was Heero who spoke up. "Quatre came to the room, asking me if he knew where you were. Obviously you two were supposed to meet but you never showed up."

Duo nodded. "And what were you planning on doing to me once you found me?"

"Rip your troth out."

Duo chuckled at that. That was Heero for you, always blunt. "And you brought Wufei to witness that? Boy, must that be a let down." He joked.

Wufei spoke from behind them. "For your information, I came back from the club early and I ran into Heero as I walked to my room. Yes it was a letdown that I didn't get to see him killing you. Though hearing your cries and getting to beat up Trowa instead pretty much covered the disappointment."

Wufei's voice wasn't as mean as the words were and Duo could hear he didn't really mean all of it. He laughed nervously. "Well, I guess I owe you guys a thanks. You really saved my butt in there, unintentionally or not. So, thank you for looking for me. I never thought anyone would bother to come."

"Don't get any ideas now, Duo." The Chinese boy said. "I still don't like you and I am not on your side. I just did what was justified."

They'd reached Sally's office now. Heero opened the door while Quatre still supported Duo's bodyweight. He put the braided boy in a chair and the three of them sat down too.

"Why?" The braided boy glanced at Wufei.

"Because that's the truth."

"That's not what I mean. You've hated my guts ever since you walked trough that door my first day here. Why?"

Wufei was silent for a second as he stared at his feet, thinking of the truth and the right words to put it in. "I had never shared my room before. I guess I wasn't willing to give up my freedom."

"So you weren't angry with me in the first place?"

"You started irritating me and then you attacked me." Wufei explained, crossing his arms. "Why were you so mad about it anyway, it was just a CD. Or does everybody on the streets go ballistic over a thing as such?" 

Duo shot an angry glare at Heero, who shook his head. "Jeice and Darryl." Was the brief answer to the braided boy's unspoken question.

Duo looked down. "The first thing I'd ever bought with money I'd actually saved myself, and you broke it."

Wufei looked at him. "I didn't know that." He said quietly.

"Guess we were both being unfair then." Duo looked up and started smiling again. "How about a new start then. "I'm Duo, nice meeting you." With a wide grin on his face he stuck his hand out to the other youth as he said this.

Wufei looked at the hand but didn't take it. Instead he smirked. "Same here, Maxwell."

Duo blinked. "Maxwell?"

"You're going to have a last name if you want me to address you properly."

Duo thought about it. "Perhaps. . . but does it have to be Maxwell? I mean the whole orphanage is going to look up if you call me!"

Wufei's smirk increased. "That's the idea."

Duo pouted but before he could say anything to his defence, the door opened and Sally walked in. She sat down at her desk and rubbed her forehead for a moment. She looked pretty tired and the way her voice sounded just confirmed she was. "Jeice and Darryl explained one or two things to me about what happened. Are you all right?"

The four boys nodded silently. And Sally continued. "Trowa's still unconscious, but the doctor says he just needs some rest and that he'll be fine. Luckily for you, Wufei, he'll be unharmed, except for a wounded pride perhaps." She let a short silence follow before she continued. "Anyway, it's almost two o'clock now, it's late and I'm tired and I guess that you could use some sleep too. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I'll deal with all this tomorrow. You guys can go off to bed now."

The four of them got up and walked out the door where Wufei separated from the others. He nodded once before he walked off to his own room. When the other three reached the point where Quatre had to go another way too, Duo paused. He motioned for Heero to go ahead and when the elder boy was gone, he turned to Quatre. 

"Hey, I really wanted to thank you for coming to look for me. And I'm sorry I dragged you into all this."

Quatre smiled. "Don't worry about it, Duo. I'm just glad you're okay."

"Yeah, me too. If it weren't for you guys, who knows what that lunatic would've done."

"What happened in there anyway? And how did he find out about your past?"

Duo glared at the wall. "He had Darryl eavesdropping on our conversation when we walked into him after the basketball game, remember? Trowa said he didn't want to waste his money on a street rat and he wanted me to sign a form to request a transfer. The bastard."

Quatre looked down. "I'm sorry. . ."

"Hey, don't worry about it, Q. It's over now, remember? I don't think Trowa will try anything anytime soon. He's all alone, now that his 'most loyal friends' have left him, the others will follow soon."

"I hope so." The blonde one replied.

"How about we go to bed now, huh? I'm really tired."

"Yeah, me too. Good night Duo."

"G'night Q."

Duo watched as Quatre walked off, but before he was completely gone, he called him. Quatre looked back, questioning. Duo smiled. "Thanks. . . for being my friend."

Quatre just gave a nod. With that done, they both went to their own rooms.

Back in his room Duo saw that Heero was already in bed, though he wasn't asleep yet. Duo started changing to his night clothes and crawled in his own bed. Then he remembered he'd forgotten something.

"Hey Heero." 

The other boy looked up.

"I'm really sorry I got so angry today. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions and I shouldn't have yelled like that." 

Heero nodded but didn't reply. Duo sighed and crawled deeper under his blankets, closing his eyes. Then Heero spoke up.

"You did what I never had the guts to do." Duo widened his eyes and looked at his roommate. "You befriended Quatre."

Duo practically jumped. He hadn't said that he was sorry, but Duo knew this was about as close as he would get for now. "Wow, who would've ever believed that? The great Heero Yuy envies a street rat!" He said jokingly. 

"And if you say one word about it I'll rip your troth out."

"Don't worry, Hee-chan! My lips are sealed."

Heero growled at his nickname but they both knew that in his heart he didn't mean it.

Duo shivered, though not because he was cold. For the first time in a long while he was actually warm. How he loved that feeling.

(¯·..·[  ¯|¯H3 ÉÑÐ  ]·..·´¯)

Tell me, was this story worth to read? Was the ending okay?

Sorry, but it has to end somewhere. I would like to thank all my reviewers for taking the time to comment on this story. You guys really helped me out, even though the story is already finished. You are the ones who cheered me up by telling me that you like my story. THANK YOU ALL OF YOU!

It's strange. I should be happy it's finished and I should be proud of the fact that I've got 2 stories finished here now, but for some reason I'm still sad. I really enjoyed writing this and I looked forward towards your reactions every week. Now that will stop until the sequel is finished. I'd also like to invite you to mail me or add me to msn if you have that. I really enjoy talking to other readers about all kinds of stuff and of course, that way you can encourage me to continue writing on the sequel which I hope to finish soon. So, for everyone who's interested, my e-mail address is in my profile, don't be shy, you're not the first one to mail me! 

I know I still left it a bit of an open ending, I like stories the best that way. But for those who are still addicted, don't worry, I'll come back! I am working on a sequel to this story. It's called 'A NEW FUTURE'. For more information about it, I will post an extra author's note in a few weeks. There you can read about the sequel. Please read it if you are interested.

Thank you and I will miss you! I love you all!

Little Princess

'No regrets 'cause I got nothing to loose'****


	11. promised author's note! better late than...

^ ^ ^  
  
WARNING, THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER, THE STORY HAS ALREADY ENDED. This is just an author's note where I want to tell something about how I feel about writing and where I explain some of the things I did in the fic. I can't say I really care if you don't read it, it is for those few who DO like to know how other authors think about their writing.  
  
FOR INFORMATION ON THE SEQUEL, CHECK THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.  
  
^ ^ ^  
  
I don't know if anyone has done this before, but here's some background information about the story. For those who want to read:  
  
This is only the second story I've finished besides one-shots and song fics. The other story is a fan fiction from DBZ, but that is beside the point. I have been seriously writing stories for about a year now. Before that I mainly put my emotions on paper, explaining them with real happenings. I've found out that writing is a very good way of 'telling' my emotions to somebody, even when nobody reads it.  
  
Right now I'm not too happy with the world we live in and I would love to do something about it. But I know that alone there is little I can do. So I've come up with the best way for me to help. Other people do it in other ways, but I like to use my stories to show the reader my thoughts on different matters. With the stories I write I hope to reach other people and that's why reviews are so important to me. They give me more that just the satisfaction that my stories aren't bad and that I'm not as bad in English as I think I am (I'm from Holland so English is not my mother language), they show me that people actually want to read what I have to say. I therefore want to thank all my reviewers. I do that not only to thank them all personally at the beginning of the next chapter, but also to take a look at their profiles, if the reviews are signed.  
  
I am currently working on other stories now and I have some of them up here too. However, most of them aren't finished yet and with all stories longer than just 1 chapter I eventually loose interest, no matter how exited I was when I started it. This causes my stories to suck in my eyes, which only makes it worse. I feel like I'm letting down my readers and I'd rather take a break and finish the story later when I've found my interest again. Here I, and other authors, use the excuse of the so called 'writers block'.  
  
To avoid this all from happening I have decided that I will only get a story up at ff.net once it is finished. That way I can update regularly and I don't feel like I'm letting anyone down. I'm currently working on another story about Gundam Wing where Heero and Duo are slaves but I am glad I haven't posted it yet because the writers block came to pay me a visit. I will put it up when it's finished. Same goes for the sequel to this story.  
  
It took me only 1 week to write this story, or at least the first version of it. I ended it when I felt the 'writers block' coming up and decided to put the rest of my thoughts in a sequel. All I needed to do now was re-read the story to get it better, 1 week is too short to get it perfect. My favourite chapter was the 2nd chapter. I love the part where Duo gets caught, even though that is not a main happening. I liked writing it and I've written that part over and over again until I felt it was right. Of course I re-read the whole story and I'm glad I did because in the first version I had a lot of things that were unclear because I was going too fast. I can say I'm pretty impressed with myself. I re-read my other finished story once and I felt I could've done so much better than that. I wonder if that will happen with this story too. I don't think that feeling will be so great.  
  
That's enough of that, now to the happenings in the story. I'll tell you per chapter why it is the way it is.  
  
Chapter one  
  
Let's start at the beginning, someone breaking in. The first chapter was simply to draw attention. I've tried to create a scene that makes people want to read more because they REALLY want to know what happens next. But I also used another trick besides the scene. I never gave any of the characters a name until someone else named them. I kept calling Duo 'the (braided) boy', 'the teenager' or my favourite, 'the youth' until Solo mentioned his name. (I did the same to all the other characters, unless I was describing duo's thoughts.) I kept the story going around Duo. That actually comes from the 'Harry Potter' books by J.K. Rowling (is it spelled like that?). There all that is described is what happens to Harry and I liked that so much I decided to do the same to Duo. You hardly read about anybody else's actions if Duo doesn't see them.  
  
And of course: 'The youth shivered. He was cold. He was always cold.' I introduced it in the first chapter and I've used it many times after that. It was more of an experiment actually; I like it when things like that keep returning. It can be recognised and I loved writing it.  
  
Chapter two  
  
Here you meet the rest of Duo's gang. You learn a little about who's in charge and what they do and how they think, enough to understand Duo's actions in later chapters. I had this all thought out so I knew what I needed to tell about Solo. He's the only character that actually gets a line because he is the only character that comes back in person later in the story.  
  
I didn't want Duo to be one of those sacred I-can-do-nothing-wrong-because- I-am-the-ultimate-being kind of characters. Humans aren't perfect so neither is Duo. He is literally a criminal because he has to live the hard life on the streets. I don't believe he could just survive for years without stealing. That was also why I didn't use the 'I run, I hide, but I never lie' motto. He says it only once in the show, when he's with Quatre in that underground base or something. 'I run, I hide but I never lie. That's me in a nutshell.'  
  
Duo was the only one who got arrested. I wanted it that way because then I wouldn't have to let him worry too much about the other(s) and where they went to. Solo HAD to escape since he came back to get Duo out. In this chapter I also introduces Zechs (without saying his name) who will have a slightly bigger part in the sequel. I wanted to let him appear later as Noin's boyfriend but decided against it since I didn't like bringing Noin into this story.  
  
Chapter three  
  
When duo gets caught they let him off very easily. In real that wouldn't happen like that, he has still a lot of other minor crimes and break-ins to pay for. The reason I let him off this easy (I could've made a lot more chapters about his captivity) was simply because that wasn't what I wanted the story to be about. Or rather, that wasn't what you wanted to read. I guessed you wanted to see the meeting with the rest of the Gw gang a.s.a.p and I was right. I got questions of when they'd meet after the first and second chapter so it was just a simple trick to attract readers, to not let you get bored.  
  
This chapter is also where I first introduced Saria's painting. When you use it more often it becomes sort of a 'character' itself. This was also an experiment, the first time I used it and it gets annoying to keep it coming back. The readers can either like it, not notice it or hate it and in my story I used it to indicate Duo's feelings towards everything that had happened to him. I used it to tell you that he missed being back on the streets where he felt he belonged. As you go further in the story you see that eventually it stops coming back. That's because he's finally starting to accept his life in the orphanage. He accepts that he now has 'a new life' (which explains the title). A character like that is a very handy trick when you want to explain feelings or when you just want to make the chapter longer.^-^..  
  
Chapter four  
  
I let him stay with Wufei first. I decided the Chinese warrior would be the best person to get Duo into trouble and have him ending up with Heero. I let him get in trouble to show you that he closed himself for the other kids in the orphanage. The reason why Wufei acts so bad was explained in the last chapter.  
  
This is also the chapter where Duo and Heero get a room together and where Solo returns. A lot of events, maybe too many, but I decided not to make separate chapters of them or they would get really short. When Solo returns, Heero discovers the truth about Duo and that fact is what eventually get's Duo to trust Heero when, after their fight, he keeps his mouth shut about the visit.  
  
Chapter five  
  
Here I introduce Trowa as someone Duo dislikes. I needed a part for Trowa and so I created this story line for him. He's very OOC, but in the sequel he will be his silent self. I just created a new background for him.  
  
I also introduced Hilde and Quatre. I wanted to use Hilde more in the story but I kinda forgot about her. . . That she's not in there often is the main reason why most of you think I can better use 1x2 than 2xHilde. Mind you, she WILL return in the sequel. About Quatre, I know I made him weak, and that is going to change in the sequel too, but I just needed it to be that way for Duo to befriend him. I needed Duo's conscience for the weaker people to kick in. I must say that I'm still not satisfied with the way Duo spoke to Quatre when he brought dinner, I think I let him go too far. But I couldn't think of anything else.  
  
Chapter six  
  
Okay, this is where Duo's protective instincts kick in. Here he learns not only about Quatre, but also about Heero and I think this chapter is the beginning of Duo accepting the orphanage. The last fight with Heero was still a resistance, but more because he knew he was going to fall, if you get what I mean. Not much else to say except that I didn't want to separate Heero and Duo. I've been thinking on letting him share a room with Quatre or Trowa or even to get one for himself, but decided I liked him with Heero best.  
  
Chapter seven  
  
Here I use Dialogue to explain things. But first I gave Trowa a reason to get back at Duo, though the main thought of Duo choosing Quatre was to make up with him. Maybe the dialogue with Quatre was too long, I think Duo told way too much about himself and I was doubting whether to leave it that way or not. But I really needed to explain a thing or two so I decided not to make it shorter (much). I could've let Heero study at the library but him seeing this event resulted in him warning Duo and him getting jealous which was exactly what I wanted to achieve. And of course, Duo and Quatre meeting Darryl (I actually know an identical twin called Jeice and Darryl and the could easily resemble that blonde bad boy from Harry Potter who's always jealous at Harry and who has two boys by his side too, forgot the kid's name, though) resulted in Darryl eavesdropping without them noticing and that resulted in Trowa finding out the truth.  
  
Chapter eight  
  
I'm slowly working towards Christmas though it won't come until the sequel. You might have noticed that Duo thinks a lot during the night. I used those moments to explain a few things. They were pretty boring to write (I prefer writing dialogue) but they were necessary (here we go again, Damn it, how do you write that word! Thank whoever discovered spell check! ^.^). I threw in some dialogue to make it less boring. Besides, I liked the idea of Heero loosening up a little bit. And why he said he was from Japan. . . well, I think he just wanted to go to sleep and he knew Duo would shut up after an answer. Poor Q-man, he doesn't understand why Duo calls his roommate Hee- Chan! Well, that's it for this crappy chappy.  
  
Chapter nine  
  
Here I show you that Heero's getting jealous. I think I did that too fast compared to how he loosened up last chapter, but the end was coming and I wanted him to be jealous so that Duo had a reason to go outside. So I needed it to work towards the end. They get a little fight, Duo leaves but in honour of Solo he returns to make p for it, or at least he wanted to. I think this is the only chapter where I left a real cliffhanger. Sorry 'bout that, just couldn't leave it out! There's not much more to say here, just that Duo remembers Solo.  
  
Chapter ten  
  
Last chapter and a longer one for that matter. This was the end. I wanted Trowa to look like a real bad guy but I also liked the idea of him failing miserably. So why not try both? To get Trowa to become what he is in the show, I had to give him a past. Well, he lost all of his friends because of the money so maybe he realizes now that money can't buy everything. Or is he planning revenge? That you will find out in the sequel.  
  
This chapter was also the beginning of a friendship between Duo and Wufei. Heero brought the latter along with him when he went looking for Duo and now, after seeing what happened to the braided boy and after what they said, Wufei realizes they made an 'unjustified' start and is willing to correct the mistake. And that is how all ended up well. I hope you have enjoyed the story, now about the sequel.  
  
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^  
  
ABOUT THE SEQUEL  
  
I can tell you that I am working on it. I have asked you which pairing you prefer, 1x2 or 2xhilde and when I started writing the sequel, I had no votes for 2xhilde yet. The girl WILL come back in the sequel, but the story will contain 1x2 and not 2xHilde.  
  
Any suggestions on this story WILL help me make the sequel a lot better than this story was. So please review me and tell me what you liked/ didn't like and what was good/bad about this story. Any suggestions of things that might happen are welcome too of course.  
  
The sequel will be called 'A NEW FUTURE' and it takes off where I left it here. In the sequel there'll be Christmas, Hilde, Solo, more friendships, love, troubles and probably more Zechs, Noin and perhaps Relena. (VOTE for who you want in there more!)  
  
I want to try and have the sequel out somewhere in September. I know that isn't very fast, but we have the summer vacation and all before that and you will be on vacation and I have found a job in an amusement park so I think it's better to start posting after the summer vacation. If you want me to mail you when I post the first chapter, my e-mail address is in my profile. For those who have my old address, I have a new one. The old one will still be used for a while, though.  
  
Oh, just one more thing, I need help for this fic as well as others.  
  
I NEED SOMEONE WHO CAN EXPLAIN THE AMERICAN SCHOOLSYSTEM!!! So, if there's anyone out there who can tell me a thing or two about it like how it works with classes and how many years it has and more, please mail me so that I can ask you if I need to.  
  
THANK YOU ALL  
  
Little princess 


	12. Sequel

Hi! Anyone out there who remembers this story? The one where Duo got sent to an orphanage and met the rest of the gang?  
  
I am posting this to tell you about the sequel to this story. I know I said I would have it finished in september and I've worked hard on it, everything has been thought out and all and I got 23.5 pages of text all done. I wanted to post the prologue on my birthday, today, september the 9th but unfortunally I didn't make that.  
  
Here's the case: Three weeks ago I got an accident with my moped. I fell and hurt my wrists but the people from the ambulance said i hadn't broken anything. Yet I kept having pain in my right wrist mostly so, after a week, we decided to have the doctor check it anyway. He sent us to the hospital where it seemed broken. For 2 weeks i got plaster bandages. I tried to keep on working on the story, but I soon found out I got easily tired from typing on the computer so things went slower than usual. Now that plaster bandage is gone, but I kept having pain in my left wrist as well, just not as much as in my right so I never had the doctor check it. Until about two weeks ago. Again, I ahd to go to the hospital and, yes, my luck, broken! Only this time my tumb is in plaster bandage as well. So now I still have some problems typing plus there's school I have to deal with (I hope to graduate from our middle school this year so it's not unimportant) as well.  
  
I am really sorry about all this. My plaster bandage will be removed next month so I hope to be able to post my story somewhere in october. In the meanwhile I'm doing some good reading (flowers in the attic and sequels and prequel from Virginia Andrews, read it, the books are great) to improve my english and writing skills. I won't post what I got so far yet because then you'd have to wait long for the rest and I often chaqnge things early in my stories when working on later chapters. I hope you can understand my position and that I won't lose you because of this inconvenience. I am really sorry, I didn't plan for this to happen and I don't like it one bit, but the sequel wil have to wait for another month.  
  
Little princess  
  
~~~~~~  
  
~~~~~~  
  
ANNOUNCEMENT!!!  
  
From: SarahDBZ and Little Princess  
To: All Anime fans  
  
Of course, everybody knows that Anime is one of the greates things in the  
world. That's why we have decided to orginize an:  
  
ANIME CONTEST 2003.  
  
This announcement is to spread just that news. So, if you're a big anime fan just like us, you know how to write a good story or draw a good picture (or maybe both?) and you think you're up to a challenge, then we advice you  
to enter our anime contest. Interested? Read on and the rules will be  
explained below:  
  
Rules:  
  
Fanfiction rules: We have chose two animes from which you can choose and we have given each anime a word which must be your inspiration. The fiction may be all genres but humor. Of course this doesn't mean jokes are not allowed, just that the fic must be a serious one.Yaoi and lemon are allowed. The two chosen animes  
and their inspiration-words are:  
  
Anime Word  
  
Gundam Wing: Christmas  
  
Dragonball Z: Prequel to DBZ  
  
Each anime will have one winner  
  
Fanart rules: The idea is the same as for fanfiction, however there are more rules for  
this one. First rule is that no sexual organs may be shown so keep it  
decent. Also, there may be no more than 3 characters in the picture. We  
have chosen 10 animes but instead of giving each anime a different inspiration-word, we have decided the words are the same for all. Below are  
the listed animes.  
  
The chosen inspirationwords are:  
  
Blue Freedom, Pink Trust  
  
Anime  
  
Berserk  
  
Dragonball Z  
  
Final Fantasy  
  
Fushigi Yuugi  
  
Gundam Wing  
Inu Yasha  
Ranma  
Slayers  
  
Wolf's Rain  
  
Each anime will have one winner  
  
Random rules  
  
Each person can 1 piece of art enter and 1 work of fanfiction (one shots  
only, maximum words: 10.000) Also report in your e-mail if you enter a fanfiction or a fanart, which anime you have chosen and under which name you would like us to present your work and whether or not you would like us  
to link to your e-mail address. We will accept all entries from saturday 09/20/2003. The deadline for the Fanart competition is sunday 11/09/2003 and the deadline for the Fanfiction contest is wednesday 12/17/2003. entries can be sent to either SarahDBZ or  
Little Princess (for e-mail addresses check addidtional info).  
  
And now, the grand prize! If you enter our contest your work will be posted on the personal websites  
of both SarahDBZ and Little Princess (for links to their sites, check below) and the winners will be clearly announced on both our sites and in all the stories we post on fanfiction.net and mediaminer.org for the first  
half year of 2004.  
  
Aditional info  
  
You can send your works to SarahDBZ and Little Princess and we will both check all entries together and together we will reach our final decision. The fanart results will be posted on our websites monday 11-17-2003 and the  
Fanfiction results will be announced with Christmas. Hereby we hope to have inspired and informed all of you enough to enter our contest. You can check out our websites and if you still have any questions  
you can mail them to either of us:  
  
SarahDBZ:  
e-mail: otaku_1@hotmail.com  
website:   
fanfiction profile:   
  
Little Princess:  
e-mail: little_princess017@hotmail.com  
website:   
fanfiction profile:   
  
~May the muzes be with you~ 


End file.
